The
Rightly-Guided Caliphs & The Four Imams

Contents

Abu Bakr al-Siddiq

Abu
Bakr al-Siddiq `Atiq ibn Abi Quhafa, Shaykh al-Islam, `Abd Allah ibn
`Uthman ibn `Amir al-Qurashi al-Taymi (d. 13), the Prophet’s intimate friend
after Allah, exclusive companion at the Prophet’s Basin (hawd) and in
the Cave, greatest supporter, closest confidant, first spiritual inheritor,
first of the men who believed in him and the only one who did so
unhesitatingly, first of his four Rightly-Guided successors, first of the ten
promised Paradise, and first of the Prophet’s Community to enter Paradise.

Alone
among the Companions, Abu Bakr repeatedly led the Community in prayer in the
lifetime of the Prophet.[1] The latter used to call him by his patronyms of Abu
Bakr and Ibn Abi Quhafa, and he named him with the attributes “The Most
Truthful” (al-Siddîq) and “Allah’s Freedman From the Fire” (`Atîq
Allâh min al-nâr).[2] When the Quraysh confronted the Prophet after the
Night Journey, they turned to Abu Bakr and said: “Do you believe what he said,
that he went last night to the Hallowed House and came back before morning?” He
replied: “If he said it, then I believe him, yes, and I do believe him
regarding what is farther than that. I believe the news of heaven he brings,
whether in the space of a morning or in that of an evening journey.” Because of
this Abu Bakr was named al-Siddîq: the Very Truthful, the One Who Never
Lies.[3]

Among
the Companions who narrated from him: Anas, `A’isha, Jabir, Abu Hurayra, the
four `Abd Allahs (Ibn `Abbas, Ibn Mas`ud, Ibn `Umar, Ibn `Amr), `Abd Allah ibn
al-Zubayr, `Umar, `Uthman, and `Ali. The latter is one of the narrators of the
Prophet’s hadith cited by Abu Bakr: “We [Prophets] do not leave anything as
inheritance. What we leave behind is charity (sadaqa).”[4]

`Umar
said: “Abu Bakr’s faith outweighs the faith of the entire Umma.”[5] This is confirmed by the following Hadith: The
Prophet asked: “Did any of you see anything in his dream?” A man said to the
Prophet: “O Messenger of Allah, I saw in my dream as if a balance came down
from the heaven in which you were weighed against Abu Bakr and outweighed him,
then Abu Bakr was weighed against `Umar and outweighed him, then `Umar was weighed
against `Uthman and outweighed him, then the balance was raised up.” This
displeased the Prophet who said: “Successorship of prophethood (khilâfa
nubuwwa)! Then Allah shall give kingship to whomever He will.”[6] `Umar also said: “The best of this Community after
its Prophet is Abu Bakr.”[7] `Ali named him and `Umar the Shaykh al-Islam
of the Community[8] and said: “The best of this Community after its
Prophet are Abu Bakr and `Umar,”[9] “The most courageous of people is Abu Bakr,”[10] and “The greatest in reward among people for the
volumes of the Qur’an is Abu Bakr, for he was the first of those who gathered
the Qur’an between two covers.”[11] He was also the first to name it mushaf.

Abu
Bakr’s high rank is indicated, among other signs, by the fact that to deny his
Companionship to the Prophet entails disbelief (kufr), unlike the denial
of the Companionship of `Umar, `Uthman, and `Ali to the Prophet.[12] This is due to the mention of this companionship in
the verse: “The second of two when the two were in the cave, and he said
unto his companion: Grieve not” (9:40) which refers, by Consensus, to the
Prophet and Abu Bakr. Allah further praised him above the rest by saying: “Those
who spent and fought before the victory are not upon a level (with the rest of
you).” (57:10)

The
Prophet confirmed his high rank in many of his sayings, among them:

·“Allah gave one of His
servants a choice between this world and what He has with Him, and that servant
chose what Allah has with Him.” Abu Bakr wept profusely and we wondered why he wept,
since the Prophet had told of a servant that was given a choice. The Prophet
himself was that servant, as Abu Bakr later told us. The Prophet continued:
“Among those most dedicated to me in his companionship and property is Abu
Bakr. If I were to take an intimate friend other than my Lord, I would take Abu
Bakr. But what binds us is the brotherhood of Islam and its love. Let no door
[of the Prophet’s mosque] remain open except Abu Bakr’s.”[13]

·“I am excused, before
each of my friends, of any intimate friendship with anyone. But if I were to
take an intimate friend, I would take Ibn Abi Quhafa as my intimate friend.
Verily, your Companion is the intimate friend of Allah!”[14]

·“You [Abu Bakr] are my
companion at the Basin and my companion in the Cave.”[15]

·“Call Abu Bakr and his
son so that I will put something down in writing, for I fear lest someone
ambitious forward a claim, and Allah and the believers refuse anyone other than
Abu Bakr.”[16]

·`Amr ibn al-`As asked:
“O Messenger of Allah, who is the most beloved of all men to you?” He replied:
“Abu Bakr.”[17]

·“It is impermissible
for a people among whom is Abu Bakr, to be led by other than him.”[18]

·“Take for your leaders
those who come after me: Abu Bakr and `Umar.”[19]

·“O`Ali! Abu Bakr and
`Umar are the leaders of the mature inhabitants of Paradise and its youth among
the first and the last, except for Prophets and Messengers.”[20]

·“The Prophet used to hold
nightly conversations with Abu Bakr in the latter’s house, discussing the
affairs of Muslims, and I [`Umar] was present with them.”[22]

·`Umar was angered by
Abu Bakr one day and left him in anger. Abu Bakr followed after him, asking his
forgiveness, but `Umar refused and shut his door in his face. Abu Bakr then
went to the Prophet and took hold of his garment until his knee showed. The
Prophet said: “Your companion has been arguing!” Abu Bakr greeted him and said:
“There was a dispute between me and `Umar, then I felt remorse and asked him to
forgive me but he would not, so I came to you.” The Prophet said, repeating
three times: “Allah forgives you, O Abu Bakr! Allah forgives you, O Abu Bakr!
Allah forgives you, O Abu Bakr!” Then `Umar felt remorse and went asking for
Abu Bakr at his house without finding him. He came to the Prophet and greeted
him, but the Prophet’s face changed with displeasure. Seeing this, Abu Bakr sat
up on his knees in fear before the Prophet, saying twice: “O Messenger of
Allah! I am the one who trangressed. O Messenger of Allah! I am the one who
transgressed.” The Prophet said to the people: “Allah sent me to you and you
all said: ‘You are lying!’ But Abu Bakr said: ‘He said the truth.’ Abu Bakr
gave me solace with his person and property. Will you leave my companion alone
once and for all? Will you leave my companion alone once and for all?!” After
this Abu Bakr was never harmed again.[23]

·“Jibril came to me,
took me by the hand, and showed me the gate through which my Community shall enter
Paradise.” Abu Bakr said: “Would that I were with you to see it!” The Prophet
said: “Did you not know? You will be the first of all my Community to enter
it.”[24]

Al-Suyuti
relates through Ibn Sa`d’s report from `A’isha her description of Abu Bakr: “He
was a man with fair skin, thin, emaciated, with a sparse beard, a slightly
hunched frame, sunken eyes and protruding forehead, and the bases of his
fingers were hairless.”[25] He was the foremost genealogist of the Quraysh and
the best of them at interpreting dreams after the Prophet according to Ibn
Sirin. `A’isha related that both he and `Uthman had relinquished drinking wine
even in the Time of Ignorance. His caliphate lasted two years and three months
in which he opened up the lands of Syria and Iraq for the Muslims, suppressed
apostasy among the Arab tribes, fought the pseudo-Prophets al-Aswad al-`Ansi,
Tulayha al-Asadi who recanted and declared his prophethood in Najd,[26] and Musaylima the Liar who was killed in the
devastating battle of al-Yamama.

Imam
al-Nawawi pointed out that Abu Bakr’s genealogical tree alone regroups four
successive generations of Companions of the Prophet: his father Abu Quhafa,
himself, his daughter Asma’, and her son `Abd Allah, in addition to Abu Bakr’s
son `Abd al-Rahman and his grandson Abu `Atiq. Nawawi states that only one
hundred and forty-two hadiths of the Prophet are narrated from Abu Bakr.[27] He comments: “The reason for this scarcity, despite
the seniority of his companionship to the Prophet, is that his death pre-dated the
dissemination of hadiths and the endeavor of the Followers to hear, gather, and
preserve them.” Among Abu Bakr’s sayings: “Whoever fights his ego for Allah’s
sake, Allah will protect Him against what He hates.”[28]

`Umar ibn al-Khattab

`Umar
ibn al-Khattab ibn Nufayl ibn `Abd al-`Uzza ibn Rayyah, Shaykh al-Islam,
Amir al-Mu’minin, Abu Hafs al-Qurashi al-`Adawi al-Faruq (d. 23). Among
the Companions who narrated from him: `Ali, Ibn Mas`ud, Ibn `Abbas, Abu
Hurayra, and especially his son Ibn `Umar upon whose narrations Malik relied in
his Muwatta’. He was described as fair-skinned with some reddishness,
tall with a large build, fast-paced, and a skilled fighter and horseman. He
embraced Islam after having fought it, in the year 6 of the Prophethood, at age
twenty-seven. This was the result of the Prophet’s explicit supplication: “O
Allah! Strengthen Islam with `Umar ibn al-Khattab.”[29] In his time Islam entered Egypt, Syria, Sijistan,
Persia, and other regions. He died a martyr, stabbed in the back while at
prayer by a Zoroastrian slave, at sixty-six years of age.

`Umar
al-Faruq was second only to Abu Bakr al-Siddiq in closeness to and approval
from the Prophet. The latter said: “I have two ministers from the inhabitants
of the heaven and two ministers from the inhabitants of the earth. The former
are Jibril and Mika’il, and the latter are Abu Bakr and `Umar.”[30] He said of the latter: “These two are [my] hearing
and eyesight”[31] and instructed the Companions: “Follow those that
come after me: Abu Bakr and `Umar.”[32]

`Umar
was given the gift of true inspiration which is the characteristic of Allah’s
Friends named kashf or “unveiling.” The Prophet said: “In the nations
long before you were people who were spoken to [by the angels] although they
were not prophets. If there is anyone of them in my Community, truly it is
`Umar ibn al-Khattab.”[33]This narration is elucidated by the two narrations whereby “Allah has
engraved truth on the tongue of `Umar and his heart”[34] and “If there were a Prophet after me verily it
would be `Umar.”[35] Al-Tirmidhi said that according to Ibn `Uyayna
“spoken to” (muhaddathûn) means “made to understand” (mufahhamûn),
while in his narration Muslim added: “Ibn Wahb explained ‘spoken to’ as
‘inspired’ (mulham).” This is the majority’s opinion according to Ibn
Hajar who said: “‘Spoken to’ means ‘by the angels’.”[36] Al-Nawawi and Ibn Hajar said respectively in Sharh
Sahih Muslim and Fath al-Bari:

The scholars have
differed concerning “spoken to.” Ibn Wahb said it meant “inspired” (mulham).
It was said also: “Those who are right, and when they give an opinion it is as
if they were spoken to, and then they give their opinion. It was said also:
“The angels speak to them...” Bukhari said: “Truth comes from their tongues.”
This hadith contains a confirmation of the miracles of the saints (karâmât
al-awliya).[37]

The
one among [Muslims] who is “spoken to,” if his existence is ascertained, what
befalls him is not used as basis for a legal judgment, rather he is obliged to
evaluate it with the Qur’an, and if it conforms to it or to the Sunna, he acts
upon it, otherwise he leaves it.[38]

A
claim was raised that since the hadith states “If there is anyone in my Umma,
it is `Umar,” it must follow that at most the number of such inspired people is
at most one, namely `Umar. Ibn Hajar replied to this with the reminder that it
is wrong to think that other Communities had many but this Community only one.
Thus what is meant by the hadith is the perfection of the quality of ilhâmû inspiration û in `Umar, not its lack in other Muslims, and Allah
knows best.

`Umar
also had the unique distinction of having his views confirmed by the revelation
in the Holy Qur’an: He said three things which were confirmed by subsequent
revelations:

I concurred with my Lord
in three matters: I said to the Prophet: “O Messenger of Allah! Why do we not
pray behind Ibrahim’s Station?” Whereupon was revealed the verse: “. . .
Take as your place of worship the place where Ibrahim stood (to pray). . .”
(2:125); I said: “O Messenger of Allah! You should order your wives to cover
because both the chaste and the wicked go in to see them,” whereupon was
revealed the verse: “... And when you ask of them (the wives of the Prophet)
anything, ask it of them from behind a curtain. . .” (33:53) Then the
Prophet’s wives banded together in their jealousy over him, so I said to them: “It
may happen that his Lord, if he divorce you, will give him instead wives better
than you, [submissive (to Allah), believing, pious, penitent, inclined to
fasting, widows and maids].” (67:5) Whereupon was revealed that verse.[39]

He
was unique in his power of separating truth from falsehood and the Prophet
conferred on him the title of al-Fârûq, saying: “In truth, the devil
certainly parts ways with (layafruqu min) `Umar.”[40] He memorized Sura al-Baqara in twelve years, and
when he had learned it completely he slaughtered a camel.[41] Imam Malik stated that on his suggestion the words
“I testify that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah” were added to the adhân,
and likewise the words “Prayer is better than Sleep” to the adhân for
the dawn prayer. However, the more correct report is that it is Bilal who first
inserted the latter formula in the call to the dawn prayer and the Prophet
retained it.[42]

`Umar
ibn al-Khattab was the first Muslim ruler to establish a Public Treasury; the
first Muslim ruler to levy a customs duty named `ushr; the first Muslim
ruler to organize a census; the first Muslim ruler to strike coins; the first
Muslim ruler to organize a system of canals for irrigation; and the first
Muslim ruler to formally organize provinces, cities, and districts. He
established the system of guest-houses and rest-houses on major routes to and
from major cities. He established schools throughout the land and allocated
liberal salaries for teachers. He was the first to prohibit mut`a or
temporary marriage, according to the Prophet’s earlier prohibition. He was the
first to place the law of inheritance on a firm basis. He was the first to
establish trusts, and the first ruler in history to separate the judiciary from
the executive.

He
took pains to provide effective and speedy justice for the people. He set up an
effective system of judicial administration under which justice was
administered according to the principles of Islam. Qadis or judges were
appointed at all administrative levels for the administration of justice and
were chosen for their integrity and learning in Islamic law. High salaries were
paid to them and they were appointed from the among the wealthy and those of
high social standing so as not to be influenced by the social position of any
litigants. The qadis were not allowed to engage in trade.

From
time to time, `Umar used to issue firmans or edicts laying down the principles
for the administration of justice. One of his firmans read:

Glory to Allah! Verily
Justice is an important obligation to Allah and to man. You have been charged
with this responsibility. Discharge this responsibility so that you may win the
approbation of Allah and the good will of the people. Treat the people equally
in your presence, and in your decisions, so that the weak despair not of
justice, and the high-placed harbor no hope of favoritism. The onus of proof
lies on the plaintiff, while the party who denies must do so on oath.
Compromise is permissible, provided that it does not turn the unlawful into
something lawful, and the lawful into something unlawful. Let nothing prevent
you from changing your previous decision if after consideration you feel that
the previous decision was incorrect. When you are in doubt about a question and
find nothing concerning it in the Qur’an or the Sunna of the Prophet, ponder
the question over and over again. Ponder over the precedents and analogous
cases, and then decide by analogy. A term should be fixed for the person who
wants to produce witnesses. If he proves his case, discharge for him his right.
Otherwise the suit should be dismissed. All Muslims are trustworthy, except
those who have been punished with flogging, those who have borne false witness,
or those of doubtful integrity.

One
day Abu Musa al-Ash`ari, the governor of Basra at the time, wrote to `Umar
complaining that the ordinances, instructions, and letters from the Caliph were
undated and therefore gave rise to problems linked to the sequence of their
implementation. Because of this and other similar problems of undatedness,
`Umar convened an assembly of scholars and advisors to consider the question of
calendar reforms. The deliberations of this assembly resulted in the combined
opinion that Muslims should have a calendar of their own. The point that was
next considered was from when should the new Muslim calendar era begin. Some
suggested that the era should begin from the birth of the Prophet while others
suggested that it should begin from the time of his death. `Ali suggested that
the era should begin from the date the Muslims migrated from Mecca to Madina,
and this was agreed upon. The next question considered was the month from which
the new era should start. Some suggested that it should start from the month of
Rabi` al-Awwal, some from Rajab, others from Ramadan, others from Dhu al-Hijja.
`Uthman suggested that the new era should start from the month of Muharram
because that was the first month in the Arabic calendar of that time. This was
agreed upon. Since the Migration had taken place in the month of Rabi` al-Awwal,
two months and eight days after the first of Muharram that year, the date was
pushed back by two months and eight days, and the new Hijri calendar
began with the first day of Muharram in the year of the Migration rather than
from the actual date of the Migration.

`Umar
was the first Muslim ruler to levy `ushr, the Customs or Import Duty. It
was levied on the goods of the traders of other countries who chose to trade in
the Muslim dominions, at up to 10% of the goods imported and on a reciprocal
basis. `Ushr was levied in a way to avoid hardships, and only on
merchandise meant for sale, not goods imported for consumption or for personal
use. Goods valued at two hundred dirhams or less were not subject to `ushr.
Instructions were issued to the officials that no personal luggage was to be
searched, and `ushr was applied only to goods that were declared as
being for the purpose of trade. The rate varied for Muslim and non-Muslim
citizens of the Muslim dominions. If the former imported goods for the purpose
of trade, they paid a lower rate of `ushr: 2╜%, that is, the same rate as for zakât. Hence,
this was regarded as part of the zakât and not as a separate tax. Dhimmis
or non-Muslim citizens of the Muslim dominions who imported goods for the
purpose of trade paid a `ushr of 5%. In order to avoid double taxation,
it was established that if the `ushr had been paid once on imported
goods, and then these goods were subsequently taken abroad and then brought back
into the Muslim dominions within the same year, no additional `ushr was
to be levied on such re-imported goods.

3.The determination of the Hijra
calendar which continues to this day.

4.Assumption of the title of Amîr
al-Mu’minîn.

5.Organization of the War
Department.

6.Putting army reserves on the
payroll.

7.Establishment of the Land
Revenue Department.

8.Survey and assessment of lands.

9.Census.

10.Building of Canals.

11.Founding of the cities of Kufa, Basra, al-Jazira,
Fustat, and Musal.

12.Division of conquered countries into provinces.

13.Imposition of customs duties.

14.Taxation of the produce of the sea and appointment of
officials for its collection.

15.Permission to traders of foreign lands to trade in
the country.

16.Organization of jails.

17.Use of the whip.

18.Making rounds at night to inquire into the condition
of the people.

19.Organization of the Police Department.

20.Establishment of military barracks at strategic
points.

21.Distinction of pedigree and non-pedigree horses.

22.Employment of secret reports and emissaries.

23.Rest-houses on the way from Mecca to Madina for the
comfort of travellers.

24.Provision for the care and bringing up of foundlings.

25.Organization of guest-houses in different cities.

26.The ruling that Arabs, whether Muslims or
non-Muslims, could not be made slaves.

27.Stipends for the poor among the Jews and the
Christians.

28.Establishment of schools.

29.Stipends for school teachers and public lecturers.

30.Persuading Abu Bakr to collect the Qur’an and
execution of the work under his own care.

31.Formulation of the principle of qiyâs or
judicial analogy.

32.More exact division of inheritance.

33.Insertion of the formula “Prayer is better that
sleep” in the call to the dawn prayer. However, as stated before, the more
correct report is that it is Bilal who first inserted the formula in the call
to the dawn prayer and the Prophet retained it.[43]

34.Ordaining the holding of tarawih prayers in
congregation.

35.Three divorces pronounced at one session declared
binding

36.Provision of the punishment for drunkenness with
eighty stripes

37.Levy of zakât on horses of merchandise

38.Levy of zakât on the Christians of Bani
Taghlab in lieu of jizya

39.Method of rnaking trusts

40.Consensus of opinion on four takbîrs in
funeral prayers

41.Organization of sermons in mosques

42.Giving salaries to imams and mu’adhdhins.

43.Provision of light in mosques at night

44.Provision of punishment for writing satires and
lampoons

45.Probibition of the mention of women’s names in lyric
poems although the custom was very ancient in Arabia.

`Abd
Allah ibn `Isa ibn Abi Layla related: “There were two dark lines in `Umar’s
face marked by tears.” Al-Hasan al-Basri and Hisham ibn al-Hasan narrated that
`Umar sometimes lost consciousness after reciting a verse from the Qur’an,
whereupon he would be taken ill and visited for days.[44] Among `Umar’s sayings:

·“O Allah! Grant me to
die a martyr, and make my death be in your Prophet’s country.”[45]

·Anas said: “I heard
`Umar say as he was alone behind a wall: ‘By Allah! You shall certainly fear
Allah, O son of al-Khattab, or He will punish you!”[47]

·Jabir said that he
heard `Umar ibn al-Khattab say on the pulpit when he married Umm Kulthum, the
daughter of `Ali and Fatima: “Do not disparage me [for marrying a young girl],
for I heard the Prophet say: ‘On the Judgment Day every means will be cut off
and every lineage severed except my lineage.’”[48] He desired to place himself in the Prophet’s lineage
through this marriage due to the precedence of Ahl al-Bayt in the
Prophet’s intercession. Umm Kulthum bore him two children, Zayd and Ruqayya.

·From `Amir ibn Rabi`a:
“I saw `Umar pick up a straw from the ground and say: ‘Would that I were this
straw! Would that I were nothing! Would that my mother never bore me!’”[49]

·From `Ubayd Allah ibn
`Umar ibn Hafs: `Umar was see carrying a slaughtered animal on his back. He was
asked why, and he replied: “I was infatuated with myself and wanted to humble
myself.”[50] Al-Hasan narrated: “`Umar gave a sermon when he was
Caliph wearing a waist-wrap patched in twelve places.”[51]

·As `Umar’s head lay in
Ibn `Umar’s lap after his stabbing he said to him: “Lay my cheek on the
ground.” Then he said: “Woe to me, my mother’s woe to me if my Lord does not
grant me mercy!”[52] The next morning al-Miswar woke him for the dawn
prayer. `Umar rose saying: “Yes, and there is no part in Islam for whoever
leaves prayer.” He prayed bleeding from his wounds.[53]

·From Malik al-Dar: The
people suffered a drought in `Umar’s khilafa, whereupon a man came to
the grave of the Prophet and said: “O Messenger of Allah! Ask for rain for your
Community, for verily they have but perished.” After this the Prophet appeared
to him in a dream and told him: “Go to `Umar and give him my greeting, then
tell him that they will be watered. Tell him: Be clever!” The man went and told
`Umar. The latter said: “My Lord! I spare no effort except in what escapes my
power.”[54]

·From Mujahid: “We found
that the goodness of our lives was patience.”[55]

·From `Urwa ibn
al-Zubayr: “Know that greed is poverty and despair sufficiency. When a man
despairs of something, he does without it.”

·From al-Sha`bi: “By
Allah! My heart has softened for Allah’s sake until it became softer than
butter, and it has hardened for Allah’s sake until it became harder than stone.”

·From `Awn ibn `Abd
Allah ibn `Utba: “Sit with the Oft-Repentent (al-tawwâbîn), for they are
the softest-hearted of people.”

From Aslam, `Umar’s
freedman: “Be the vessels of the Book and the well-springs of the Science, and
ask Allah for your sustenance day by day.”

·From Abu `Uthman
al-Nahdi: “Winter is the treasure of devotees.”

·From Dawud ibn `Ali:
“If a sheep dies on the shore of the Euphrates I fear lest Allah ask me to
account for it on the Day of Resurrection.”

·From Yahya ibn Abi
Kathir: “If it were announced from the heaven: ‘O people! You are all entering
Paradise except one,’ I would fear to be he; and if it were announced: ‘O
people! You are all entering the Fire except one,’ I would hope to be he.”

·From al-Aswad ibn Hilal
al-Muharibi: When `Umar was made Caliph he stood on the pulpit and said: “O
people! I am going to invoke Allah, therefore say âmîn. O Allah! I am
coarse, so make me soft, and I am stingy, so make me generous, and I am weak,
so make me strong.”

·From `Abd Allah ibn
`Umar: “[After `Umar’s death] I saw a palace in my sleep, and was told it
belonged to `Umar ibn al-Khattab. Then I saw him come out of it, wearing a
cover as if he had just bathed. I said: ‘How did you fare?’ He said: ‘Well,
although I would have fallen from my place if I had not found a forgiving
Lord.’ Then he asked: ‘How long since I have left you?’ I said: ‘Twelve years.’
He said: ‘I only just finished rendering account.’”

`Umar
was the closed door between the Prophet’s Community and the onset of
dissension. His death is one of the earliest signs of the Hour. One day he
asked Hudhayfa about the “dissension that shall surge like the waves of the
sea” according to the Prophet’s own terms. Hudhayfa answered: “You need not
worry about it, for between you and it there is a gate closed shut.” `Umar
said: “Will the gate be opened or broken?” Hudhayfa said: “Broken!” `Umar
replied: “That is more appropriate than that it be let open.” The narrator [Abu
Wa’il] said: “We feared to ask Hudhayfa who was that gate, so we sent Masruq to
ask him and he said: That gate was `Umar.”[56]

`Uthman ibn `Affan

`Uthman
ibn `Affan ibn Abi al-`As ibn Umayya ibn `Abd Shams, Abu `Amr, Abu `Abd Allah,
Abu Layla al-Qurashi al-Umawi (d. 35), the Prophet’s Friend, Amîr
al-Mu’minîn, the third of the four Rightly-Guided Successors of the Prophet
and third of the Ten promised Paradise. He is named Dhu al-Nûrayn or
“Possessing Two Lights,” a reference to his marriage with two daughters of the
Prophet, Ruqayya then Umm Kulthum. He is among those who emigrated twice: once
to Abyssinia, and again to Madina. He gathered together the Qur’an which he had
read in its entirety before the Prophet. During his tenure as Caliph, Armenia,
Caucasia, Khurasan, Kirman, Sijistan, Cyprus, and much of North Africa were
added to the dominions of Islam. He related 146 hadiths from the Prophet. Among
the Companions who narrated from him in the Nine Books are Anas, Abu Hurayra,
Jundub, `Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, `Abd Allah ibn `Abbas, `Abd Allah ibn `Umar.
A host of prominent Followers narrated from him, among them al-Zuhri, Ibn
al-Musayyib, al-Dahhak, and `Alqama.

`Uthman
was extremely wealthy and generous. When he heard the Prophet say: “Whoever
equips the army of al-`Usra,[57] Paradise is for him,” he brought the Prophet a
thousand gold dinars which he poured into his lap. The Prophet picked them up
with his hand and said repeatedly: “Nothing shall harm `Uthman after what he
did today.”[58] It is also narrated that equipped the army of
al-`Usra with seven hundred ounces of gold,[59] or seven hundred and fifty camels and fifty horses.[60]

The
Prophet said: “The most compassionate of my Community towards my Community is
Abu Bakr; the staunchest in Allah’s Religion is `Umar; and the most truthful in
his modesty is `Uthman.”[61] The pebbles were heard by Abu Dharr glorifying Allah
in the hands of the Prophet, Abu Bakr, `Umar, and `Uthman.[62] The Prophet particularly praised `Uthman for his
modesty and said: “Shall I not feel bashful before a man when even the angels
feel bashful before him?”[63]

He
was humble and was seen at the time of his caliphate sleeping alone in the
mosque, wrapped in a blanket with no one around him, and riding on a mule with
his son Na’il behind him.

It
is related through several sound chains that `Uthman recited the Qur’an in a
single rak`a. Ibrahim ibn Rustum al-Marwazi said: “Four are the Imams
that recited the entire Qur’an in a single rak`a: `Uthman ibn `Affan,
Tamim al-Dari, Sa`id ibn Jubayr, and Abu Hanifa.”[64] Ibn al-Mubarak also narrated that `Uthman used to
fast all year round. `Ali ibn Abi Talib said: “`Uthman was one of those who
were ‘mindful of their duty and [did] good works, and again [were] mindful
of [their] duty, and [believed], and once again [were] mindful of their duty,
and did right. Allah loves those who do good.’ (5:93)”[65] Ibn `Umar said that `Uthman was meant by the verse “Is
he who pays adoration in the watches of the night, prostrate and standing,
bewaring of the Hereafter and hoping for the mercy of his Lord. . .”
(39:9).[66]

Anas
narrated: When Hudhayfa campaigned with the people of Iraq and al-Sham in
Armenia, the Muslims contended with regard to the Qur’an in a reprehensible
manner. Hudhayfa came to `Uthman and told him: “O Commander of the Believers,
rescue this Community before they differ in the Qur’an the way Christians and
Jews differed in the Books.” `Uthman was alarmed at this and sent word to Hafsa
the Mother of the Believers: “Send me all the volumes in which the Qur’an has been
written down.” When she did, `Uthman ordered Zayd ibn Thabit, Sa`id ibn al-`As,
`Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, and `Abd Al-Rahman ibn al-Harith ibn Hisham to copy
them into volumes. He said: “If you all differ with Zayd concerning the Arabic,
then write it in the dialect of Quraysh, for truly the Qur’an was only revealed
in their dialect.”[67] There is Consensus around the integral contents of
`Uthman’s volume.[68]This means that one who denies or questions it in whole or in part has
left Islam.

`Uthman
was neither tall nor short, extremely handsome, brunet, large-jointed, wide-shouldered, with a large beard which he dyed yellow
and long hair which reached to his shoulders, and gold-braced teeth. `Abd Allah
ibn Hazm said: “I saw `Uthman, and I never saw man nor woman handsomer of face
than him.”

The
plot to kill `Uthman marked the onset of Dissension (fitna) in the
Community. Together with deadly division, the great sign of this Dissension was
the beginning of falsehood. The timing of the spread of falsehood was foretold
by the Prophet in the hadith: “I entrust to you the well-being of my
Companions, and that of those that come after them. Then falsehood will
spread.”[69] To counter this, the sciences of hadith and hadith
criticism were innovated within the half-century which followed `Uthman’s death
in order to sift true Prophetic and Companion-reports from false ones. This was
done by verifying the authenticity of transmission chains (isnâds)
embodied in the honesty and competence of transmitters, and by examining the
conditions and contents of transmission in their minutest historical,
linguistic, and doctrinal details. Ibn Sirin (d. 110) said: “We used to accept
as true what we heard, then lies spread and we began to say: Name your
transmitters.”[70] Confirming this is al-Hasan al-Basri’s (d. 110)
reaction to someone who requested his isnâd: “O man! I neither lie nor
was ever called a liar!”[71] Later scholars such as Ibn al-Mubarak (d. 181)
declared: “Isnâd is an integral part of the Religion, otherwise anyone
can say anything.”[72]

The
principle of authentication was founded by the Prophet himself and used by the
Companions. This is proved by the Prophet’s questioning of the man who said he
had seen the new moon of Ramadan: “Do you bear witness that there is no God
except Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah?” When he replied in
the affirmative, the Prophet accepted his news.[73] Similarly, Ibn `Abbas said: “If a trustworthy source
tells us of a fatwa by `Ali, we do not seek any further concerning it.”[74] This shows that they already distinguished between
true and dubious sources. Furthermore, all the Companions are considered
trustworthy sources according to Allah’s saying: “You are the best community
that has been raised up for mankind” (3:110) and several other verses and
hadiths to that effect. This evidence was listed by al-Khatib in al-Kifaya
and Ibn Hajar in al-Isaba.[75]

The
Prophet spoke of `Uthman’s forthcoming martyrdom on numerous occasions:

·“Give him [`Uthman] the
tidings of Paradise after a trial that shall befall him.”[76]

·“A dissension shall
surge like so many bull’s horns. At that time, he [indicating a man wearing a
veil] and whoever is with him are on the side of right.” Ka`b ibn Murra
al-Bahzi then ran to the man, lifted his veil, and turned him towards the
Prophet saying: “Him, O Messenger of Allah?” The Prophet said yes. It was
`Uthman ibn `Affan.[77]

·`Uthman said: “The
Prophet took a covenant from me [not to fight at the time of my martyrdom] and
I shall fulfill it.”[78]

·“O `Uthman! It may be
that Allah shall vest you with a shirt. If they demand that you remove it, do
not remove it.”[79]

Ibn
`Umar said: “As `Uthman was delivering a sermon, Jahjah al-Ghafari walked up to
him, snatched his stick, and broke it on his knee. A shard of wood entered his
thigh and it got gangrened and was amputated. Then he died within the year.[80] Al-Qadi `Iyad relates in his book al-Shifa’,
chapter entitled “Esteem for the things and places connected with the Prophet,”
that this staff had belonged to the Prophet.

`Abd
Allah ibn Salam said to the Egyptians at the time they were besieging the
Commander of the Believers `Uthman ibn `Affan: “Never did Allah’s sword not
remain sheathed from harming you since the Prophet came to it until this very
day.”[81] Yazid ibn Abi Habib said: “I have heard that most of
those that rode to kill `Uthman were later seized by demonic possession.”
Al-Dhahabi mentioned that `Ali had pronounced a curse on `Uthman’s killers. One
of the reasons for the climate of hatred stirred up against the Caliph was the
grievance of some parties from Egypt and Iraq that `Uthman was favoring his
relatives among the Banu Umayya with public offices and demanded that he remove
them (false claim).

A
group of three thousands Egyptians and Iraqis came to complain to `Uthman about
the Egyptian governor Ibn Abi Sarh’s tyranny and the Iraqi one, so `Uthman
said: “Chose someone to govern you.” They chose Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr, so
`Uthman wrote credentials for him and they returned. On their way back, at
three days’ distace from Madina, they falsely claimed that a black slave caught
up with them with the news that he carried orders from `Uthman to the governor
of Egypt. They searched him and found a message from `Uthman to Ibn Abi Sarh
ordering the death of Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr and some of his friends. They
returned to Madina and besieged `Uthman. The latter acknowledged that the
camel, the slave, and the seal on the letter belonged to him, but he swore that
he had never written nor ordered the letter to be written. They falsely claimed
that the letter had been hand-written by Marwan ibn al-Hakam. `Uthman was
besieged for twenty-two days during which he refused both to give up Marwan and
to resign. He was killed on the last day of Dhu al-Hijja, on the day of Jum`a,
by several men who had crept into his house.

Ibn
`Umar related from `Uthman that the previous night the latter had seen the
Prophet in his dream telling him: “Be strong! Verily you shall break your fast
with us tomorrow night.” When his assailants came in they found him reading the
Qur’an. `Uthman was first stabbed in the head with an arrow-head, then a man
placed the point of his sword against his belly, whereupon his wife Na’ila
tried to prevent him with her hand, losing several fingers. Then `Uthman and
Na’ila’s servant were killed as the latter fought back. She ran out of the
house screaming for help and the killers dispersed. It is narrated that `Uthman
was killed as he was reading the verse “And Allah will suffice you for
defense against them. He is the Hearer, the Knower.” (2:137) Several
reports state that at the time of `Uthman’s siege and death Zayd ibn Thabit had
marshalled three hundred Ansâr in his defense together with Abu Hurayra,
Ibn `Umar, al-Hasan, al-Husayn, `Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, but `Uthman forbade
all of them to fight.

Among
`Uthman’s sayings:

·“If I were between
Paradise and the Fire, unsure where I will be sent, I would choose to be turned
into ash before finding out where I was bound.”

·“I swear by Allah that
I never committed fornication in the Time of Ignorance nor in Islam. Islam only
increased me in modesty.”

·His servant Hani’
narrated: “Whenever `Uthman stood before a grave he wept until his beard was
wet. He was asked: ‘You have seen battle and death without a tear, and you cry
for this?’ He said: ‘The grave is the first abode of the hereafter. Whoever is
saved from it, what follows is easier; whoever is not saved from it, what
follows is harder. The Prophet said: “I have not seen anything more frightful
than the punishment in the grave.”’”[82] `Uthman also related from the Prophet that whenever
the latter finished burying someone, he would stand by the grave and say: “All
of you, ask Allah to forgive your brother and make him steadfast, for he is now
being questioned.”[83]

The
Prophet said: “More men will enter Paradise through the intercession of a
certain man than there are people in the tribes of Rabi`a and Mudar.” The
elders considered that this was `Uthman ibn `Affan.[84]

`Ali ibn Abi Talib

`Ali
ibn Abi Talib `Abd Manaf ibn `Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim ibn `Abd Manaf, Abu
al-Hasan al-Qurashi al-Hashimi (d. 40), Amîr al-Mu’minîn, the first male
believer in Islam after Abu Bakr, the Prophet’s standard-bearer in battle, the
Door of the City of Knowledge, the most judicious of the Companions, and the
“Possessor of a wise heart and enquiring tongue.” The Prophet nicknamed him Abu
Turâb or Father of Dust.[85] His mother was Fatima bint Asad, whom the Prophet
called his own mother and at whose grave he made a remarkable intercession.[86] He accepted Islam when he was eight, or nine, or
fourteen, depending on the narrations, but it is established from Ibn `Abbas
that he was the first male Muslim after the Prophet, Khadija being the first
Muslim. He was killed at age fifty-eight. From him narrated Abu Bakr, `Umar,
his sons al-Hasan and al-Husayn, Ibn `Abbas, `Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, and countless
others.

`Ali
was a skilled and fearless fighter, and the Prophet gave him his standard to
carry on the day of Badr and in subsequent battles. At the same time he was the
repository of Prophetic wisdom among the Companions. The latter, when asked about
difficult legal rulings, deferred to others the responsibility of answering,
while `Ali, alone among them, used to say: “Ask me.”[87] `Umar said: “I seek refuge in Allah from a problem
which Abu al-Hasan cannot solve.” Similarly `A’isha said: “He is the most
knowledgeable about the Sunna among those who remain,” and Ibn `Abbas: “If a
trustworthy source tells us of a fatwa by `Ali, we do not seek any
further concerning it.”[88] Sulayman al-Ahmusi narrated from his father that
`Ali said: “By Allah! No verse was ever revealed except I knew the reason for
which it was revealed and in what place and concerning whom. Verily my Lord has
bestowed upon me a wise heart and a speaking tongue.”[89] At the same time `Ali humbly declared: “What cools
my liver most, if I am asked something I know not, is to say: ‘Allah knows
best’.”[90]

Imam
Ahmad said: “There is no Companion concerning whom are reported as many merits
as `Ali ibn Abi Talib.”[91] Following are some of the hadiths to that effect.

·On the eve of the
campaign of Khaybar, the Prophet said: “I shall give the standard to a man who
loves Allah and His Messenger, and whom Allah loves and also His Messenger.”
`Umar said: “I never liked to be entrusted leadership before that day.” The
next day the Prophet summoned `Ali and gave him the flag.[92]

·Salama ibn `Amr
narrated that the day of Khaybar, the Prophet summoned `Ali who came led by the
hand, as he was suffering from inflammation of the eyes. The Prophet then blew
on his eyes and gave him the flag.[93] Another version states that Ibn Abi Layla told his
father to ask `Ali why he wore summer clothes in winter and winter clothes in
summer. `Ali said: “The day of Khaybar the Prophet summoned me when my eyes
were sore. I said to him: ‘O Messenger of Allah! I have ophthalmic.’ He blew on
my eyes and said: ‘O Allah! remove from him hot and cold.’ I never felt hot nor
cold after that day.”[94]

·The Prophet left `Ali
behind in the campaign of Tabuk. The latter said: “O Messenger of Allah! Are
you leaving me behind with the women and children?” The Prophet replied: “Are
you not happy to stand next to me like Harun next to Musa, save that there is
no Prophet after me?”[95]

·When Allah revealed the
verse: “Come! We will summon our sons and your sons, and our women and your
women, and ourselves and yourselves, then we will pray humbly and invoke the
curse of Allah upon those who lie” (3:61), the Prophet summoned `Ali,
Fatima, Hasan, and Husayn, and said: “O Allah! These are my Family.”[96]

·Some people complained
to the Prophet about `Ali, whereupon he stood and said: “Do not accuse `Ali of
anything! By Allah, he is truly a little rough (la’ukhayshan) in Allah’s
cause.”[97]

·When the Prophet sent
`Ali to Yemen the latter said: “O Messenger of Allah, you are sending me to people
who are older than me so that I judge between them!” The Prophet said: “Go, for
verily Allah shall empower your tongue and guide your heart.” `Ali said: “After
that I never felt doubt as to what judgment I should pass between two parties.”[98]

·The Prophet said: “The
most compassionate of my Community towards my Community is Abu Bakr; the
staunchest in Allah’s Religion is `Umar; the most truthful in his modesty is
`Uthman, and the best in judgment is `Ali.”[99] `Umar said: “`Ali is the best in judgment among us,
and Ubayy is the most proficient at the Qur’anic readings.”[100] Ibn Mas`ud similarly said: “We used to say that the
best in judgment among the people of Madina was `Ali.”[101] It is a measure of al-Hasan al-Basri’s greatness
that `Ali once followed his recommendation in a judicial case.[102]

The
innovations of those who bore excessive love and admiration for `Ali appeared
in his own lifetime and he himself fought them in word and deed. To those that
claimed that the Prophet had appointed him as successor after him he said: “In
truth, Allah’s Messenger did not appoint any successor”[105] and: “The Prophet was taken from us, then Abu Bakr
was made the successor, so he did as the Prophet had done and according to his
path until Allah took him from us; then `Umar was made the successor, so he did
as the Prophet had done and according to his path until Allah took him from
us.”[106] To those that claimed that he deserved the Caliphate
better than Abu Bakr and `Umar he said: “The best of this Community after its
Prophet are Abu Bakr and `Umar.”[107] To those that either hated him or overly loved him
`Ali said: “Two types of people shall perish concerning me: a hater who forges
lies about me (Khawarij), and a lover who over-praises me (Shi’a).”[108] To those that claimed that he or his family
possessed other than the Qur’an which all Muslims had he said: “Whoever claims
that we have something which we read other than the Qur’an has lied.”[109] Finally, when a group of people came to him saying:
“You are He, you are our Lord! (anta Hû anta Rabbuna)” he had them
executed and then ordered the bodies burnt.[110]

When
`Ali was given allegiance as Caliph he moved from Madina to Kufa in Iraq and
made it his capital. His tenure lasted five years (35-40) marred by three great
dissensions which tore apart the fabric of the Muslim Community: the battle of
the Camel (year 36) against the party of `A’isha the Mother of the Believers,
the battle of Siffin (year 37) aganst the party of Mu`awiya ibn Abi Sufyan, and
the campaign against the Khawârij in the following two years, until he
was assassinated by one of them in Kufa as he came out for the dawn prayer. The
pretext for the meeting of the armies on the day of the Camel and the day of
Siffin was the demand for `Uthman’s killers on the part of `A’isha and
Mu`awiya, but the winds of war were fanned by the followers of Abdullah bin
Saba’ the Jew, from inside all three camps until events escaped the control
of the Companions. It is related that `Ali, `A’isha , and Mu`awiya often
expressed astonishment at the dissension and opposition that surrounded them.
The Prophet had predicted these events, notably the battle of the Camel with
the words: “One of you women shall come out riding a long-haired camel, and the
dogs of Haw’ab [between Mecca and Basra] will bark at her. Many shall be killed
to her right and her left, and she shall escape after near death.”[111] At any rate, Ahl al-Sunna adopted as theirs
the position taken by one of the Salaf (Caliph Umar bin Abdul-Aziz) who
said: “Those from whose blood Allah has kept our swords pure, we shall not
soil our tongues with their slander.” The most reliable book written on the
divergences of the Companions is Abu Bakr ibn al-`Arabi’s (d. 543) al-`Awasim
min al-Qawasim fi Tahqiq Mawaqif al-Sahaba Ba`da Wafati al-Nabi Sallallahu
`Alayhi wa Sallam.

Another
innovation fought by `Ali was that of the Khawârij or “Seceders,” also
known as Hurûriyya after the village of Hurur, near Kufa, where they set
up military quarters. They were originally a group of up to twenty thousand
pious worshippers and memorizers of the Qur’an (`ubbâd wa qurrâ’) who
were part of `Ali’s army but walked out on him after he accepted arbitration in
the crises with Mu`awiya ibn Abi Sufyan and `A’isha the Mother of the
Believers. Their strict position was on the basis of the verse “The decision
rests with Allah only” (6:57, 12:40, 12:67). `Ali said: “A word of truth by
which falsehood is sought!” He sent them the expert interpreter of the Qur’an
among the Companions, Ibn `Abbas, who recited to them the verses “The judge
is to be two men among you known for justice” (5:95) and “Appoint an
arbiter from his folk and an arbiter from her folk” (4:35) then said:
“Allah has thereby entrusted arbitration to men, although if He had wished to
decide He would have decided. And is the sanctity of the Community of Muhammad
not greater than that of a man and a woman?” Hearing this, four thousand of the
Khawârij came back with him while the rest either left the field or
persisted in their enmity and were killed in the battles of Nahrawan (year 38)
and al-Nukhayla (year 39).

The
Prophet had predicted that `Ali would fight the Khawârij with the words:
“In truth there will be, among you, one who shall fight over the interpretation
of the Qur’an just as I fought over its revelation.” Abu Bakr and `Umar asked:
“Am I he?” The Prophet said: “No, it is the one who is mending the shoes.” He
had given his shoes to `Ali to mend.[112] The Prophet also predicted `Ali’s martyrdom with the
words: “This shall be dyed red from this” and he pointed to `Ali’s beard and
head respectively.[113]

The
Khawârij are the first doctrinal innovators in Islam. They considered
all sinners’ apostates, as well as all those who opposed them. By this Takfîr,
they justified to themselves the killing and spoliation of Muslims including
women and children. Muslims who joined them were forced to first declare
themselves disbelievers then enter Islam again. They distinguished themselves
by shaving their heads out of austerity, a practice which they innovated and
which the Prophet had foretold. Yet the Khawârij deemed themselves
scrupulously pious and the only true Muslims on earth. When `Ali’s murderer,
`Abd al-Rahman ibn Muljam al-Muradi, was dismembered and blinded he remained
impassive and recited the Sura “Recite! In the Name of Thy Lord” (96:1)
in its entirety, but when they moved to pull out his tongue he resisted; asked
for the reason he said: “I hate to spend a single moment on earth not
mentioning Allah.” He was then executed and burnt. His forehead bore the trace
of frequent prostration.[114]

The
Khawârij pre-dated the Rawâfid (Shi’a) in their vilification of
Abu Bakr and `Umar.[115] `Ali declared it licit to fight them because they
had killed the Companion Khabbab ibn al-Arathth and his wife for praising the
four Caliphs.[116] The Prophet had predicted their appearance in many
hadiths. Among them:

`Ali sent the Prophet a
treasure which the latter proceeded to distribute. The Quraysh became angry and
said: “He is giving to the nobility of Najd and leaving us out!” The Prophet
said: “I am only trying to win their hearts over to us.” Then a man came with
sunken eyes, protruding cheeks, big forehead, profuse beard, and shaven head.
He said: “Fear Allah, O Muhammad!” The Prophet replied: “And who shall obey
Allah if I disobey him? Does Allah trust me with the people of the earth, so
that you should not trust me?” One of the Companions û Khalid ibn
Walid û asked permission to kill the man but the Prophet did
not give it. He said: “Out of that man’s seed shall come a people who will
recite the Qur’an but it will not go past their throats. They will pass through
religion the way an arrow passes through its quarry. They shall kill the
Muslims and leave the idolaters alone. If I live to see them, verily I shall
kill them the way the tribe of `Ad was killed.”[117] Ibn Taymiyya cited this Hadith as proof that the Khawârij
shaved their heads.[118]

`Ali
was described as having white hair which he parted in the middle, a very large
white beard, and large, heavy eyes. He was heavyset and his height was medium
to short. He was blunt in his renunciation of the world even in his own dress.
When Ibn al-Nabbah came to him with the news that the treasury-house was filled
with gold and silver `Ali summoned the people of Kufa and distributed
everything to them with the words: “O Yellow, O White! Go fool other than me.”
Then he ordered the treasury-house swept, and he prayed two rak`a in it.
Jurmuz said: “I saw `Ali coming out of his palace wearing a waist-cloth that
reached to the middle of his shank and an outer garment tucked up at the
sleeves, walking in the marketplace while hitting a small drum (dirra)
and enjoining upon people Godwariness and honesty in transactions. He would
say: ‘Observe good measure and do not bloat up the meat.’”[120] When one of the Khawârij criticized him for
what he was wearing, he said: “What do you want with my clothing? This is
farther from arrogance and more suitable for me as I am imitated by Muslims.”[121]

Al-Hasan
ibn `Ali narrated that the morning of his murder `Ali said: “Last night I woke
up my family [to pray] because it was the night before Jum`a and the
morning of Badr û the seventeenth of Ramadan û then I dozed
off and the Prophet came before me. I said: ‘O Messenger of Allah! What
crookedness and contention have I found coming from your Community!’ He said:
‘Supplicate against them.’ I said: ‘O Allah! Substitute them with something
that will be better for me, and substitute me with something that will be worse
for them.’” Then `Ali went out to pray preceded by the mu’adhdhin Ibn
al-Nabbah and followed by al-Hasan. `Ali came out of the gateway calling the
people to prayer and was faced by two men armed with swords. Ibn Muljam struck
him on the head with a poisoned sword and was caught, while the other hit the
arch of the gate and fled. `Ali said: “Feed the prisoner and give him water, if
I live I shall decide about him, and if I die, kill him as I was killed without
further enmity. ‘Lo! Allah loves not aggressors’ (2:190, 5:87, 7:55).”

It
was decided to make `Ali’s grave a secret lest the Khawârij dig it up.
After his son al-Hasan prayed the funeral prayer over him, he was buried at the
Caliphal palace in Kufa, and then all traces of his grave were effaced. It is
also narrated that al-Hasan conveyed the body in a coffin to Madina and that on
the way the camel that carried the coffin got lost by night and was found by
members of the Tayyi’ tribe who buried the body and slaughtered the camel.[122]

Among
`Ali’s sayings narrated by Abu Nu`aym with his chains:

·From al-Husayn ibn
`Ali: “The most sincere of people in their actions and the most knowledgeable
of Allah are those who are strongest in their love and awe for the sanctity of
the people of lâ ilâha illallâh.”

·From `Abd Khayr:
“Goodness does not consist in having much property and children, but in doing
many good deeds, increasing your gentle character, and adorning yourself before
people with the worship of your Lord. Then, if you do well, glorify Allah; if
you do ill, ask forgiveness of Him. There is no good in the world except for
two types of people: someone who sins and then follows up with repentance, and
someone who races to do good deeds. What is done in Godwariness is never
little, and how can something be little if accepted by Allah?”

·From Abu al-Zaghl:
“Remember five instructions from me in following which you shall sooner exhaust
your camels than run out of their benefit: let no servant hope for anything
except from his Lord; let him not fear anything except his own sin; let no
ignorant person feel ashamed to ask about what he knows not; let no
knowledgeable person, if asked about what he knows not, feel ashamed to say
Allah knows best; and patience is in relation to belief like the head to the
body, one has no belief if he has no patience.”

·From Muhajir ibn
`Umayr: “What I fear most is the hankering after idle desires and long hopes.
The former blocks one from the truth and the latter causes forgetfulness of the
hereafter. In truth the world has gone its way out, in truth the hereafter has
come journeying to us û and each of the two has its own sons. Therefore be a
son of the hereafter and do not be a son of the world! Today there are deeds
without accounts, and tomorrow, accounts without deeds.”

·From Abu Araka: “I have
seen a remnant of the Companions of Allah’s Messenger. I see no one that
resembles them. By Allah! They used to rise in the morning disheveled,
dust-covered, pale, with something between their eyes like goat’s knees, as
they had spent the night chanting Allah’s Book, turning from their feet to
their foreheads. If Allah was mentioned they swayed the way trees sway on a
windy day, then their eyes poured out tears until û by Allah! û they soaked
their clothes. By Allah! It is as if folks today sleep in indifference.”

·From al-Hasan ibn `Ali:
“Blessed is the servant that cries constantly to Allah, who has known people
while they have not known him, and Allah has marked him with His contentment.
These are the true beacons of guidance. Allah repels from them every wrongful
dissension and shall enter them into His own mercy. They are not the wasteful
tale-bearers[123] nor the ill-mannered self-displayers.”[124]

·From `Asim ibn Damura:
“The true, the real faqîh is he who does not push people to despair from
Allah’s mercy, nor lulls them into a false sense of safety from His Punishment,
nor gives them licenses to disobey Allah, nor leaves the Qur’an for something
else. There is no good in worship devoid of knowledge, nor in knowledge devoid
of understanding, nor in inattentive recitation.” This is comparable to
al-Hasan al-Basri’s own definition: “Have you ever seen a faqîh? The faqîh
is he who has renounced the world, longs for the hereafter, possesses insight
in his Religion, and worships his Lord without cease.”[125]

·From `Amr ibn Murra:
“Be wellsprings of the Science and beacons in the night, wearing old clothes
but possessing new hearts for which you shall be known in the heaven and
remembered on the earth.”

·“Thus does Knowledge
die: when those who possess it die. By Allah, I do swear it! The earth will
never be empty of one who establishes the proofs of Allah so that His proofs
ans signs never cease. They are the fewest in number, but the greatest in rank
before Allah. Through them Allah preserves His proofs until they bequeath it to
those like them (before passing on) and plant it firmly in their hearts. By
them knowledge has taken by assault the reality of things, so that they found
easy what those given to comfort found hard, and found intimacy in what the
ignorant found desolate. They accompanied the world with bodies whose spirits
were attached to the highest regard. Ah, ah! How one yearns to see them!”[127]

Imam
al-Nawawi narrated a remarkable patrolinear chain for a Hadith going back to
`Ali: “Among the best of the narrations of the type ‘sons from fathers’ is that
of al-Khatib with a chain going back to `Abd al-Wahhab ibn `Abd al-`Aziz ibn
al-Harith ibn Asad ibn al-Layth ibn Sulayman ibn al-Aswad ibn Sufyan ibn Yazid
ibn Akina al-Tamimi who said: I heard my father (Yazid) say: I heard my father
(Sufyan) say: I heard my father(al-Aswad) say: I heard my father (Sulayman) say: I heard my father
(al-Layth) say: I heard my father (Asad) say: I heard my father (al-Harith)
say: I heard my father (`Abd al-`Aziz)say: I heard my father (`Abd al-Wahhab) say: I heard `Ali ibn Abi Talib
say: ‘The compassionate (al-hannân) is he who comes to the one who
shunned him. The granter of favor (al-mannân) is he who extends the
favor before he is asked for it.”[128]

Al-Nu`man ibn Thabit

Al-Nu`man
ibn Thabit al-Taymi, al-Imam Abu Hanifa (d. 150), called “The Imam” by Abu
Dawud, and “The Imam, one of those who have reached the sky” by Ibn Hajar, he
is known in the Islamic world as “The Greatest Imam” (al-imâm al-a`zam)
and his school has the largest number of followers among the four schools of Ahl
al-Sunna. He is the first of the four mujtahid imams and the only
Successor (tâbi`i) among them, having seen the Companions Anas ibn
Malik, `Abd Allah ibn Abi Awfa, Sahl ibn Sa`d al-Sa`idi, Abu al-Tufayl, and
`Amir ibn Wathila.[129]

Abu
Hanifa is the first in Islam to organize the writing of fiqh under
sub-headings embracing the whole of the Law, beginning with purity (tahara)
followed by prayer (sala), an order which was retained by all subsequent
scholars such as Malik, Shafi`i, Abu Dawud, Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, and
others. All these and their followers are indebted to him and give him a share
of their reward because he was the first to open that road for them, according
to the hadith of the Prophet: “He who starts something good in Islam has its
reward and the reward of those who practice it until the Day of Judgement,
without lessening in the least the reward of those who practice it. The one who
starts something bad in Islam will incur its punishment and the punishment of
all those who practice it until the Day of Judgement without lessening their
punishment in the least.”[130] Al-Shafi`i referred to this when he said: “People
are all the children of Abu Hanifa in fiqh, of Ibn Ishaq in history, of
Malik in hadith, and of Muqatil in tafsîr.”

Al-Khatib
narrated from Abu Hanifa’s student Abu Nu`aym that the latter said: “Muslims
should make du`a to Allah on behalf of Abu Hanifa in their prayers,
because the Sunan and the fiqh were preserved for them through
him. Al-Dhahabi wrote one volume on the life of each of the other three great
Imams and said: “The account of Abu Hanifa’s life requires two volumes.” His
son Hammad said as he washed his father’s body for burial: “May Allah have
mercy on you! You have exhausted whoever tries to catch up with you.”

Abu
Hanifa was scrupulously pious and refused Ibn Hubayra’s offer of a judgeship
even when the latter had him whipped. Like al-Bukhari and al-Shafi`i, he used
to make 60 complete recitations (khatma) of Qur’an every Ramadan: one in
the day, one in the night, besides his teaching and other duties. Ibrahim ibn
Rustum al-Marwazi said: “Four are the Imams that recited the entire Qur’an in a
single rak`a: `Uthman ibn `Affan, Tamim al-Dari, Sa`id ibn Jubayr, and
Abu Hanifa.” Ibn al-Mubarak said: “Abu Hanifa for a long time would pray all
five prayers with a single ablution.”

Al-Suyuti
relates in Tabyid al-Sahifa that a certain visitor came to observe Abu
Hanifa and saw him all day long in the mosque, teaching relentlessly, answering
every question from both the scholars and the common people, not stopping
except to pray, then standing at home in prayer when people were asleep, hardly
ever eating or sleeping, and yet the most handsome and gracious of people,
always alert and never tired, day after day for a long time, so that in the end
the visitor said: “I became convinced that this was not an ordinary matter, but
wilâya (Friendship with Allah).”

Sufyan
al-Thawri praised Abu Hanifa when he said: “We were in front of Abu Hanifa like
small birds in front of the falcon,” and Sufyan stood up for him when Abu
Hanifa visited him after his brother’s death, and he said: “This man holds a
high rank in knowledge, and if I did not stand up for his science I would stand
up for his age, and if not for his age then for his Godwariness (wara`),
and if not for his Godwariness then for his jurisprudence (fiqh).” Ibn
al-Mubarak praised Abu Hanifa and called him a sign of Allah. Both Ibn
al-Mubarak and Sufyan al-Thawri said: “Abu Hanifa was in his time the most
knowledgeable of all people on earth.” Ibn Hajar also related that Ibn
al-Mubarak said: “If Allah had not rescued me with Abu Hanifa and Sufyan
[al-Thawri] I would have been like the rest of the common people.” Dhahabi
relates it as: “I would have been an innovator.”

An
example of Abu Hanifa’s perspicuity in inferring legal rulings from
source-texts is his reading of the following hadith:

The Prophet said: “Your
life in comparison to the lifetime of past nations is like the period between
the time of the mid-afternoon prayer (‘asr) and sunset. Your example and
the example of the Jews and Christians is that of a man who employed laborers
and said to them: ‘Who will work for me until mid-day for one qirât (a
unit of measure, part of a dinar) each?’ The Jews worked until mid-day for one qirât
each. Then the man said: ‘Who will work for me from mid-day until the ‘asr
prayer for one qirât each?’ The Christians worked from mid-day until the
‘asr prayer for one qirât each. Then the man said: ‘Who will work
for me from the `asr prayer until the maghrib prayer for two qirât
each?’ And that, in truth, is all of you. In truth, you have double the wages.
The Jews and the Christians became angry and said: ‘We did more labor but took
less wages.’ But Allah said: ‘Have I wronged you in any of your rights?’ They
replied no. Then He said: ‘This is My Blessing which I give to whom I wish.’”[132]

It
was deduced from the phrase “We did more labor” that the time of mid-day to `asr
must always be longer than that between `asr and maghrib. This is
confirmed by authentic reports whereby:

·The Prophet said: “May
Allah have mercy on someone who prays four rak`as before `asr.[134]

·`Ali delayed praying `asr
until shortly before the sun changed, and he reprimanded the mu’adhdhin
who was hurrying him with the words: “He is trying to teach us the Sunna!”[135]

·Ibrahim al-Nakha`i
said: “Those that came before you used to hasten more than you to pray zuhr
and delay more than you in praying `asr.”[136] Al-Tahanawi said: “Those that came before you” are
the Companions.

Sufyan
al-Thawri, Abu Hanifa, and his two companions Muhammad ibn a-Hasan and Abu
Yusuf therefore considered it better to lengthen the time between zuhr
and `asr by delaying the latter prayer as long as the sun did not begin
to redden, while the majority of the authorities considered that praying `asr
early is better, on the basis of other sound evidence to that effect.

Like
every Friend of Allah, Abu Hanifa had his enemies. `Abdan said that he heard
Ibn al-Mubarak say: “If you hear them mention Abu Hanifa derogatively then they
are mentioning me derogatively. In truth I fear for them Allah’s displeasure.”
Authentically related from Bishr al-Hafi is the statement: “No-one criticizes
Abu Hanifa except an envier or an ignoramus.”[138] Hamid ibn Adam al-Marwazi said: I heard Ibn
al-Mubarak say: “I never saw anyone more fearful of Allah than Abu Hanifa, even
on trial under the whip and through money and property.” Abu Mu`awiya al-Darir
said: “Love of Abu Hanifa is part of the Sunna.”

Malik ibn Anas

Malik
ibn Anas ibn Malik ibn `Amr, al-Imam, Abu `Abd Allah al-Humyari al-Asbahi
al-Madani (93-179), the Shaykh of Islam, Proof of the Community, Imam of the
Abode of Emigration, and Knowledgeable Scholar of Madina predicted by the
Prophet. The second of the four major mujtahid imams, whose school
filled North Africa, al-Andalus, much of Egypt, and some of al-Sham, Yemen,
Sudan, Iraq, and Khurasan. He is the author of al-Muwatta’ (“The
Approved”), formed of the sound narrations of the Prophet from the people of
the Hijaz together with the sayings of the Companions, the Followers, and those
after them. It was hailed by al-Shafi`i as the soundest book on earth after the
Qur’an, nearest book on earth to the Qur’an, most correct book on earth after
the Qur’an, and most beneficial book on earth after the Qur’an according to
four separate narrations.[139] Malik said: “I showed my book to seventy jurists of
Madina, and every single one of them approved me for it (kulluhum wâta’ani
`alayh), so I named it ‘The Approved’.” Imam al-Bukhari said that the
soundest of all chains of transmission was “Malik, from Nafi`, from Ibn `Umar.”
The scholars of hadith call it the Golden Chain, and there are eighty
narrations with this chain in the Muwatta’.

The
Prophet said: “Very soon will people beat the flanks of camels in search of
knowledge, and they shall find no-one more knowledgeable than the knowledgeable
scholar of Madina.”[140] Al-Tirmidhi, al-Qadi `Iyad, Dhahabi and others
relate from Sufyan ibn `Uyayna, `Abd al-Razzaq, Ibn Mahdi, Ibn Ma`in, Dhu’ayb
ibn `Imama, Ibn al-Madini, and others that they considered that scholar to be
Malik ibn Anas. It is also related from Ibn `Uyayna that he later considered it
to be `Abd Allah ibn `Abd al-`Aziz al-`Umari. Al-Dhahabi said of the latter:
“He possessed knowledge and good fiqh, spoke the truth fearlessly,
ordered good, and remained aloof from society. He used to press Malik in
private to renounce the world and seclude himself.”

Abu
Mus`ab said: “Malik did not pray in congregation [in the Prophet’s mosque] for
twenty-five years. He was asked: ‘What is preventing you?’ He said: ‘Lest I see
something reprehensible and be obligated to change it.’”[141] Another narration from Abu Mus`ab states: “After
Malik left the [Prophet’s] mosque he used to pray in his house with a
congregation that followed him, and he prayed the Jum`a prayer alone in
his house.”[142] Ibn Sa`d narrates from Muhammad ibn `Umar: “Malik
used to come to the Mosque and pray the prayers and the Jum`a, as well
as the funeral prayers. He used to visit the sick and sit in the Mosque where
his companions would came and saw him. Then he quit sitting there, instead he
would pray and leave, and he quit attending the funeral prayers. Then he quit
everything, neither attending the prayers nor the Jum`a in the mosque.
Nor would he visit anyone who was sick or other than that. The people bore with
it, for they were extremely fond of him and respected him too much. This lasted
until he died. If asked about it, he said: ‘Not everyone can mention his
excuse.’”[143]

Ibn
`Abd al-Barr said that Malik was the first who compiled a book formed
exclusively of sound narrations. Abu Bakr ibn al-`Arabi said: “The Muwatta’
is the first foundation and the core, while al-Bukhari’s book is the second
foundation in this respect. Upon these two all the rest have built, such as
Muslim and al-Tirmidhi.” Shah Wali Allah said something similar and added that
it is the principal authority of all four Schools of Law, which stand in
relation to it like the commentary stands in relation to the main text. Malik
composed it in the course of forty years, having started with ten thousand
narrations until he reduced them to their present number of under 2,000.

Al-Suyuti
said: “There is no mursal narration in the Muwatta’ except it has
one or several strengthening proofs (`âdid aw `awâdid).” Ibn `Abd
al-Barr composed a book in which he listed all the narrations of the Muwatta’
that are either mursal, or munqati`, or mu`dal, and he
provided complete sound chains for all of them except four:

·“In truth I do not
forget, but I am made to forget so that I shall start a Sunna.” This is the
second hadith in the book of Sahw.

·“The Prophet was shown
the lifespans of people before his time, or whatever Allah willed of it, and
seemed alarmed that the lifespans of his Community were too brief to reach the
amount of deeds reached by previous communities who lived long. Whereupon Allah
gave him the Most Precious Night (layla al-qadr), which is better than a
thousand months.” This is the fifteenth hadith in the book of I`tikaf.

·Mu`adh ibn Jabal said:
“The last instruction I received from Allah’s Messenger when I put my foot in
the stirrup was: ‘Beautify your manners for the people, O Mu`adh ibn Jabal!’”
This is the first hadith of the book of Husn al-Khuluq.

·“If clouds appear
towards the sea then go northwards, that is the mark of heavyish rain.” This is
the fifth hadith of the book of Istisqa’.

Among
the hadith masters, al-`Iraqi and his student Ibn Hajar agreed with Ibn `Abd
al-Barr that the above four hadiths have no chain, but others follow a
different view: Shaykh Muhammad al-Shinqiti mentioned in his Dalil al-Salik
ila Muwatta’ al-Imam Malik (p. 14) that Shaykh Salih al-Fulani al-`Umari
al-Madani said: “Ibn al-Salah provided complete chains for the four hadiths in
question in an independent epistle which I have in my possession, written in
his own hand.” Shaykh Ahmad Shakir said: “But al-Shinqiti did not mention what
these chains were, and so the scholars cannot judge on the question.”

Al-Zurqani
counted as sixty-nine the number of those who narrated the Muwatta’
directly from Malik, geographically spread as follows:

-Seventeen in Madina, among them Abu
Mus`ab Ahmad ibn Abi Bakr al-Zuhri, whose version has received a recent edition;

-
Twenty-seven in Iraq, among them `Abd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi, whose narration
Ahmad ibn Hanbal chose, Yahya ibn Yahya al-Tamimi al-Hanzali al-Naysaburi,
whose narration Muslim chose, and Abu Hanifa’s student Muhammad ibn al-Hasan
al-Shaybani, whose version has been published but greatly differs from the
others and also contains other than what is narrated from Malik, so that it
became known as Muwatta’ Muhammad;

-
Thirteen in al-Andalus, among them the jurist Yahya ibn Yahya al-Laythi “the
Sage of al-Andalus” û thus nicknamed by Malik himself û whose
version is the most commonly used today and is the version meant by the term
“Malik’s Muwatta’.” He is mainly responsible for the spread of the
Maliki School in al-Andalus.

-Two from al-Qayrawan;

-Two from Tunis;

-Seven from al-Sham.

Imam
Malik is the connection of the entire Islamic Community to the knowledge of the
Sunna as the scholars of the Prophet’s city (al-Madina) preserved it. This
reference-point of his school of jurisprudence is observed time and again in
the Muwatta’ with the phrase: “And this is what I have found (or seen)
the people of knowledge practicing.” He was keenly aware of his mission as both
the transmitter and the elucidator of the Sunna. This is characteristic of his
students’ praise of him, beginning with al-Shafi`i’s famous sayings: “No-one
constitutes as great a favor to me in Allah’s Religion as Malik” and “When the
scholars of knowledge are mentioned, Malik is the guiding star.” `Abd Allah ibn
Wahb said: “Every memorizer of hadith that does not have an Imam in fiqh
is misguided (dâll), and if Allah had not rescued us with Malik and
al-Layth (ibn Sa`d), I would have been misguided.”[144] Abu Mus`ab recounts the following story:

I went in to see Malik
ibn Anas. He said to me: “Look under my place of prayer or prayer-mat and see
what is there.” I looked and found a certain writing. He said: “Read it.” It
contained the account of a dream, which one of his brothers had seen and which
concerned him. Malik recited it [from memory]: “I saw the Prophet in my sleep.
He was in his mosque and the people were gathered around him, and he said: ‘I
have hidden for you under my pulpit (minbar) something good – or:
knowledge – and I have ordered Malik to distribute it to the people.’” Then
Malik wept, so I got up and left him.[145]

The
caliph Abu Ja`far al-Mansur[146] had forbidden Malik to narrate the hadith: “The
divorce of the coerced does not take effect” (laysa `ala mustakrahin / li
mukrahin talâq).[147] Then a spy came to Malik and asked him about the
issue, whereupon Malik narrated the hadith in front of everyone. He was seized
and lashed until his shoulder was dislocated and he passed out. When he came
to, he said: “He [al-Mansur] is absolved of my lashing.” When asked why he had
absolved him, Malik replied: “I feared to meet the Prophet after being the
cause for the perdition of one of his relatives.”[148] Ibrahim ibn Hammad said he saw Malik being carried
up and walking away, carrying one of his hands with the other. Then they shaved
his face and he was mounted on a camel and paraded. He was ordered to deprecate
himself aloud, whereupon he said: “Whoever knows me, knows me; whoever does not
know me, my name is Malik ibn Anas, and I say: The divorce of the coerced is
null and void!” When news of this reached Ja`far ibn Sulayman (d. 175) the
governor of Madina and cousin of al-Mansur, he said: “Bring him down, let him
go.”

Imam
Malik held the hadith of the Prophet in such reverence that he never narrated
anything nor gave a fatwa unless in a state of ritual purity. Isma`il
ibn Abi Uways said: “I asked my uncle û Malik û about something. He bade me sit, made ablution, sat
on the couch, and said: la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah. He did not
give a fatwa except he said it first.” Al-Haytham said: “I heard Malik
being asked forty eight questions, to thirty-two of which he replied: ‘I do not
know.’” Abu Mus`ab reported that Malik said: “I did not give fatwas
before seventy scholars first witnessed to my competence to do it.”

Malik’s
ethics, together with the states of awe and emotion which were observed on him
by his entourage, were no doubt partly inherited from great shaykhs of his such
as Ja`far al-Sadiq, Ibn Hurmuz, and Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri. He visited his shaykh
Ibn Hurmuz (d. 148) every day from morning to night for a period of about eight
years and recounts: “I would come to Ibn Hurmuz, whereupon he would order the
servant to close the door and let down the curtain, then he would start speaking
of the beginning of this Umma, and tears would stream down his beard.”
The Maliki shaykh Ibn Qunfudh al-Qusantini (d. 810) wrote:

It was the practice of
the Pious Predecessors and the Imams of the past that whenever the Prophet was
mentioned in their presence they were overwhelmed by reverence, humbleness,
stillness, and dignity. Ja`far ibn Muhammad ibn `Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn `Ali ibn
Abi Talib would turn pale whenever he heard the Prophet mentioned. Imam Malik
would not mention a hadith except in a state of ritual purity. `Abd al-Rahman
ibn al-Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr al-Siddiq would turn red and stammer
whenever he heard the Prophet mentioned. As for `Amir ibn `Abd Allah ibn
al-Zubayr ibn al-`Awamm al-Asadi, he would weep until his eyes had no tears
left in them. When any hadiths were mentioned in their presence they would
lower their voices. Malik said: “The Prophet’s sacredness (hurma) is in
death is as his sacredness was in life.”[149]

Qutayba
said: “When we went to see Malik, he would come out to us adorned, wearing kuhl
on his eyes, perfumed, wearing his best clothes, sit at the head of the circle,
call for palm-leaf fans, and give each one of us a fan.” Muhammad ibn `Umar:
“Malik’s circle was a circle of dignity and courtesy. He was a man of majestic
countenance and noblity. There was no part for self-display, vain talk, or loud
speech in his circle. His reader would read for all, and no-one looked into his
own book, nor asked questions, out of awe before Malik and out of respect for
him.”

When
the caliph al-Mahdi sent his sons Harun and Musa[150] to learn from Malik, the latter would not read to
them but told them: “The people of Madina read before the scholar just like
children read to the teacher, and if they make a mistake, he corrects them.”
Similarly when Harun al-Rashid with his own two sons requested Malik to read
for them, he replied: “I have stopped reading for anybody a long time ago.”
When Harun requested the people to leave so that he could read freely before
Malik, the latter also refused and said: “If the common people are forbidden to
attend because of the particulars, the latter will not profit.” It is known
that Malik’s way in the transmission of hadith, like Ibn al-Musayyib, `Urwa,
al-Qasim, Salim, Nafi`, al-Zuhri, and others, was `ard (“reading by the
student”) and not samâ` (“audition from the shaykh”), although the
student states by convention, in both cases: “So-and-so narrated to us.”

The
caliph Harun al-Rashid said to Malik after hearing his answers to certain
questions he put to him: “You are, by Allah! the wisest of people and the most
knowledgeable of people.” Malik replied: “No, by Allah! O Leader of the
Believers.” He said: “Yes! But you keep it hidden. By Allah! If I live, I shall
put your sayings in writing like the mushafs are put down in writing,
and I shall disseminate them to the ends of the world.” But Malik refused.

When
one of the caliphs manifested his intention to replace the Prophet’s wooden
pulpit with a pulpit of silver and jewels Malik said: “I do not consider good
the hindrance of the people from access to the Prophet’s relics.” (lâ ara an
yuhrama al-nâsu athara rasulillah.)

Among
Malik’s sayings:

·From Ibn Wahb:
“Knowledge Allah places wherever He wills. It does not consist in narrating a
lot.”

·From Ibn Wahb: “The
saying has reached me[151]that none renounces the world and guards himself
except he will speak wisdom.”

·From Ibn Wahb:
“Knowledge diminishes and does not increase. Knowledge has diminished incessantly
after the Prophets and the Books.”

·From `Abd Allah ibn
`Abd al-Hakam: “The Companions differed in the Branches (al-furû`) and
split into factions (tafarraqû), and each one of them was correct in
himself.”[152]

·From Ja`far ibn `Abd
Allah: “We were with Malik when a man came and asked him: ‘O Abu `Abd Allah! “The
Merciful is established over the Throne” (20:5): how is He established?’
Nothing affected Malik as much as that man’s question. He looked at the ground
and started prodding it with a twig he held in his hand until he was completely
soaked in sweat. Then he lifted his head and said: ‘The “how” of it is
inconceivable; the “establishment” part of it is not unknown; belief in it is
obligatory; asking about it is an innovation; and I believe that you are a man
of innovation.’ Then he gave an order and the man was led out.”[153]

·From Ibn Wahb: “We were
with Malik when a man asked him: ‘O Abu `Abd Allah! “The Merciful (i.e
Allah) is established over the Throne” (20:5): how is His establishment?’
Malik lowered his head and began to sweat profusely. Then he lifted up his head
and said: ‘“The Merciful is established over the Throne” just as He
described Himself. One cannot ask “how.” “How” does not apply to Him. And you
are an evil man, a man of innovation. Take him out!’ The man was led out.”[154]

·From Yahya ibn Yahya
al-Tamimi and Malik’s shaykh Rabi`a ibn Abi `Abd al-Rahman: “We were with Malik
when a man came and asked him: ‘O Abu `Abd Allah! “The Merciful is
established over the Throne” (20:5): how is He established?’ Malik lowered
his head and remained thus until he was completely soaked in sweat. Then he
said: ‘The establishment is not unknown; the “how” is inconceivable; belief in
it is obligatory; asking about it is an innovation; and I do not think that you
are anything but an innovator.’ Then he ordered that the man be led out.”[155]

·From Ma`n: “Disputation
(al-jidâl) in the Religion fosters self-display, does away with the
light of the heart and hardens it, and bequeaths aimless wandering.”

·From Ma`n and others:
“There are four types of narrators one does not take from: An outright scoffer,
even if he is the greatest narrator; an innovator who invites people to his
innovation; someone who lies about people, even if I do not charge him with
mendacity in hadith; and a righteous, honorable worshipper if he does not
memorize what he narrates.” Malik’s last clause refers to the two conditions sine
qua non of the trustworthy narrator, who must possess not only moral
uprightness (`adâla) but also accuracy in transmission (dabt).
The clause elucidates the paradox current among hadith scholars whereby “No-one
lies more than the righteous.”[156] The reason for this is that the righteous do not
doubt the Muslim’s attribution of a saying to his Prophet, and so they accept
it without suspicion, whereas al-Shafi`i said: “If Malik had the slightest
doubt about a hadith, he discarded the entire hadith.” Dr. Nur al-Din `Itr
said: “The manner of the righteous who narrate everything indiscriminately
stems from purity of heart and good opinion, and the scholars have said about
such narrators: ‘Lies run off their tongue without their intending it.’”[157] There is a fundamental difference between the latter
and those who deliberately forge lies or narrate forgeries passed for hadith,
and who are condemned by the Prophet’s saying: “Whoever lies about me
willfully, let him take now his seat in the Fire!”[158]

·From Ibn al-Qasim:
“Malik used to say: ‘Belief increases.’ He would stop short of saying that it
decreases.”

·From Ibn Abi al-Zubayr:
“I saw `Ata’ ibn Abi Rabah enter the [Prophet’s] Mosque, then take hold of the
pommel of the Pulpit, after which he faced the Qibla [to pray].”

·In the Muwatta’:
“Shaving the moustache is an innovation.” It is elsewhere related that
Malik himself was tall, heavyset, imposing of stature, very fair, with white
hair and beard but bald, with a huge beard and blue eyes; he “detested and
condemned” shaving of the moustache, and he always wore beautiful clothes,
especially white.

·Narrated by Ibn Abi
Zayd: “The turban was worn from the beginning of Islam and it did not cease to
be worn until our time. I did not see anyone among the People of Excellence
except they wore the turban, such as Yahya ibn Sa`id, Rabi`a, and Ibn Hurmuz. I
would see in Rabi`a’s circle more than thirty men wearing turbans and I was one
of them; Rabi`a did not put it down until the Pleiades rose and he used to say:
‘I swear that I find it increases intelligence.’ Jibril was seen in the image
of (the Companion) Dihya (ibn Khalifa) al-Kalbi wearing a turban with its
extremity hanging between his shoulder-blades.”[159] Ashhab said: “When Malik wore the turban he passed
it under his chin and let its extremity hang behind his back, and he wore musk
and other scents.”

Muhammad ibn Idris

Muhammad
ibn Idris ibn al-`Abbas, al-Imam al-Shafi`i, Abu `Abd Allah al-Shafi`i
al-Hijazi al-Qurashi al-Hashimi al-Muttalibi (d. 204), the offspring of the
House of the Prophet, the peerless one of the great mujtahid imams and
jurisprudent par excellence, the scrupulously pious ascetic and Friend
of Allah, he laid down the foundations of fiqh in his Risala,
which he said he revised and re-read four hundred times, then said: “Only
Allah’s Book is perfect and free from error.”

He
is the cousin of the Prophet û Allah’s blessings and peace upon him û descending
from al-Muttalib who is the brother of Hashim, `Abd al-Muttalib’s father.
Someone praised the Banu Hashim in front of the Prophet, whereby he interlaced
the fingers of his two hands and said: “We and they are but one and the same
thing.”[160] Al-Nawawi listed three peculiar merits of
al-Shafi`i: his sharing the Prophet’s lineage at the level of their common
ancestor `Abd Manaf; his birth in the Holy Land of Palestine and upbringing in
Mecca; and his education at the hands of superlative scholars together with his
own superlative intelligence and knowledge of the Arabic language. To this Ibn
Hajar added two more: the hadith of the Prophet, “O Allah! Guide Quraysh, for
the science of the scholar that comes from them will encompass the earth. O
Allah! You have let the first of them taste bitterness, so let the latter of
them taste reward.”[161] Another hadith of the Prophet says: “Truly, Allah
shall send forth for this Community, at the onset of every hundred years,
someone who will renew their Religion for them.”[162] The scholars agreed, among them Abu Qilaba (d. 276)
and Imam Ahmad, that the first narration signified al-Shafi`i,[163] and the second signified `Umar ibn `Abd al-`Aziz and
then al-Shafi`i.[164]

He
was born in Ghazza or `Asqalan in 150, the year of Abu Hanifa’s death, and
moved to Mecca at the age of two, following his father’s death, where he grew
up. He was early a skillful archer, then he took to learning language and
poetry until he gave himself to fiqh, beginning with hadith. He
memorized the Qur’an at age seven, then Malik’s Muwatta’ at age ten, at
which time his teacher would deputize him to teach in his absence. At age
thirteen he went to see Malik, who was impressed by his memory and intelligence.

Malik
ibn Anas and Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani were among his most prominent
teachers and he took position against both of them in fiqh. Al-Shafi`i
said: “From Muhammad ibn al-Hasan I wrote a camel-load.” Al-Hakim narrated from
`Abd Allah ibn `Abd al-Hakam: “Al-Shafi`i never ceased to speak according to
Malik’s position and he would say: ‘We do not differ from him other than in the
way of his companions,’ until some young men spoke unbecomingly at length
behind his back, whereupon al-Shafi`i resolved to put his differences with
Malik in writing. Otherwise, his whole life he would say, whenever asked
something: ‘This is what the Teacher said’ ûhâdha qawl al-ustadhû meaning
Malik.”[165]

Like
Abu Hanifa and al-Bukhari, he recited the entire Qur’an each day at prayer, and
twice a day in the month of Ramadan.

Al-Muzani
said: “I never saw one more handsome of face than al-Shafi`i. If he grasped his
beard it would not exceed his fist.” Ibn Rahuyah described him in Mecca as
wearing bright white clothes with an intensely black beard. Al-Za`farani said that
when he was in Baghdad in the year 195 he dyed his beard with henna.

Abu
`Ubayd al-Qasim ibn Sallam said: “If the intelligence of an entire nation was
brought together he would have encompassed it.” Similarly, al-Muzani said: “I
have been looking into al-Shafi`i’s Risala for fifty years, and I do not
recall a single time I looked at it without learning some new benefit.”

Al-Sakhawi
in the introduction to his al-Jawahir wa al-Durar and others narrate
that someone criticized Ahmad ibn Hanbal for attending the fiqh sessions
of al-Shafi`i and leaving the hadith sessions of Sufyan ibn `Uyayna. Ahmad
replied: “Keep quiet! If you miss a hadith with a shorter chain you can find it
elsewhere with a longer chain and it will not harm you. But if you do not have
the reasoning of this man [al-Shafi`i], I fear you will never be able to find
it elsewhere.” Ahmad is also related by his students Abu Talib and Humayd ibn
Zanjuyah to say: “I never saw anyone adhere more to hadith than al-Shafi`i.
No-one preceded him in writing down the hadith in a book.” The meaning of this
is that al-Shafi`i possessed the understanding of hadith after which Ahmad
sought, as evidenced by the latter’s statement: “How rare is fiqh among
the scholars of hadith!”[166] This is a reference to the hadith: “It may be one
carries understanding (fiqh) without being a person of understanding (faqîh).”[167] Sufyan himself would defer to al-Shafi`i in matters
of tafsîr and fatwa. Yunus ibn Abi Ya`la said: “Whenever
al-Shafi`i went into tafsîr, it was as if he had witnessed the
revelation.” Ahmad ibn Hanbal also said: “Not one of the scholars of hadith
touched an inkwell nor a pen except he owed a huge debt to al-Shafi`i.”

Al-Shafi`i
was known for his peculiar strength in Arabic language, poetry, and philology.
Bayhaqi narrated:

[From Ibn Hisham:] I was
al-Shafi`i’s sitting-companion for a long time, and I never heard him use
except a word which, carefully considered, one would not find (in its context)
a better word in the entire Arabic language. . . . Al-Shafi`i’s discourse, in
relation to language, is a proof in itself.

[From al-Hasan ibn
Muhammad al-Za`farani:] A group of bedouins used to frequent al-Shafi`i’s
gathering with us and sit in a corner. One day I asked their leader: “You are
not interested in scholarship; why do you keep coming to sit with us?” They
said: “We come to hear al-Shafi`i’s language.”[168]

Al-Shafi`i
trod the path of the Salaf in avoiding any interpretation of the verses
and narrations pertaining to the divine attributes. He practiced “relegation of
the meaning” (tafwîd al-mi`na) to a higher source, as established in his
saying: “I leave the meaning of the verses of the Attributes to Allah, and I
leave the meaning of the hadiths of the attributes to Allah’s Messenger.” At
the same time, rare instances of interpretation are recorded from him. Thus
al-Bayhaqi relates that al-Muzani reported from al-Shafi`i the following
commentary on the verse: “To Allah belong the East and the West, and
wheresoever you turn, there is Allah’s face (wajh)” (2:115): “It means –
and Allah knows best – thither is the bearing (wajh) towards which Allah
has directed you.”[169] Al-Hakkari (d. 486) related in his book `Aqida
al-Shafi`i that the latter said: “We affirm those attributes, and we negate
from them likeness between them and creation (al-tashbîh), just as He
negated it from Himself when He said: ‘There is nothing whatsoever like unto
Him’ (42:11).”

Al-Shafi`i’s
hatred of dialectic theology (kalâm) was based on his extreme caution
against errors which bear heavy consequences as they induce one into false
beliefs. Among his sayings concerning this: “It is better for a scholar of
knowledge to give a fatwa after which he is said to be wrong than to
theologize and then be said to be a heretic (zindîq). I hate nothing
more than theology and theologians.” Dhahabi comments: “This indicates that Abu
`Abd Allah’s position concerning error in the principles of the Religion (al-usûl)
is that it is not the same as error in the course of scholarly exertion in the
branches.” The reason is that in belief and doctrine neither ijtihâd nor
divergences are permitted. In this respect al-Shafi`i said: “It cannot be asked
‘Why?’ concerning the principles, nor ‘How?’” Yet al-Shafi`i did not completely
close the door to the use of kalâm in defense of the Sunna.

Yunus
ibn Abi Ya`la narrated that al-Shafi`i defined the “principles” as: “The
Qur’an, the Sunna, analogy (al-qiyâs), and consensus (al-ijmâ`)”;
he defined the latter to mean: “The adherence of the Congregation (jamâ`a)
of the Muslims to the conclusions of a given ruling pertaining to what is
permitted and what is forbidden after the passing of the Prophet, blessings and
peace be upon him.”

Al-Shafi`i
did not close the door on the right use of kalâm as is clear from Ibn
Abi Hatim’s narration from al-Rabi` of his words: “If I wished, I could produce
a book against each one of those who deviated, but dialectic theology is none
of my business, and I would not like to be attributed any part in it.”[170] Similar to it is his advice to his student
al-Muzani: “Take proofs from creation about the Creator, and do not burden
yourself with the knowledge of what your mind did not reach.” Ibn Abi Hatim
himself spoke similarly when he was told of Ibn Khuzayma’s unsuccessful attempt
at kalâm: “It is preferable not to meddle with what we did not learn.”
Note that al-Shafi`i also spoke of his wish not to have a single letter out of
all his works attributed to him, regardless of topic.

Al-Shafi`i’s
attitude towards tasawwuf was as strict as with kalâm, and he
both praised it and denigrated its abuse at the hands of its corrupters. In
criticism of the latter he said: “No-one becomes a Sufi in the morning
except he ends up a dolt by noon”.

Al-Shafi`i
deferred primacy in the foundations of fiqh to Imam Abu Hanifa with his
famous statement: “People are all the children of Abu Hanifa in fiqh.”

Two
schools of legal thought or madhahib are actually attributed to
al-Shafi`i, englobing his writings and legal opinions (fatâwa). These
two schools are known in the terminology of jurists as “The Old” (al-qadîm)
and “The New” (al-jadîd), corresponding respectively to his stays in
Iraq and Egypt. The most prominent transmitters of the New among al-Shafi`i’s
students are al-Buwayti,[171] al-Muzani, al-Rabi` al-Muradi, and al-Bulqini, in Kitab
al-Umm (“The Motherbook”). The most prominent transmitters of the Old are
Ahmad ibn Hanbal, al-Karabisi, al-Za`farani, and Abu Thawr, in Kitab
al-Hujja (“Book of the Proof”). What is presently known as the Shafi`i
position refers to the New except in approximately twenty-two questions, in
which Shafi`i scholars and muftis have retained the positions of the Old.

Al-Subki
related that the Shafi`i scholars considered al-Rabi`s narration from
al-Shafi`i sounder from the viewpoint of transmission, while they considered
al-Muzani’s sounder from the viewpoint of fiqh, although both were
established hadith masters. Al-Shafi`i said to al-Rabi`: “How I love you!” and
another time: “O Rabi`! If I could feed you the Science I would feed it to
you.” Al-Qaffal al-Shashi in his Fatawa relates that al-Rabi` was slow
in his understanding, and that al-Shafi`i once repeated an explanation forty
times for him in a gathering, yet he did not understand it then got up and left
in embarrassment. Later, al-Shafi`i called him in private and resumed
explaining it to him until he understood. This shows the accuracy of Ibn
Rahuyah’s statement: “I consider the best part of me the time when I fully
understand al-Shafi`i’s discourse.”

Al-Shafi`i
took the verse “Or if you have touched women” (4:43) literally, and
considered that contact between the sexes, even accidental, nullified ablution.
This is also the position of Ibn Mas`ud, Ibn `Umar, al-Sha`bi, al-Nakha`i,
al-Zuhri, and al-Awza`i, which is confirmed by Ibn `Umar’s report: “Whoever
kisses or touches his wife with his hand must renew his wudû’.” It is
authentic and related in numerous places including Malik's Muwatta’.
Al-Shafi`i said: “Something similar has reached us from Ibn Mas`ud.” They all
read the above verse literally, without interpreting “touch” to mean “sexual
intercourse” as do the Hanafis, or “touch with pleasure” as do the Malikis.

A
major contribution of al-Shafi`i in the foundations of the Law was his division
of innovation (al-bid`a) into good and bad on the basis of `Umar’s words
about the tarâwih or congregational supererogatory night prayers in the
month of Ramadan: “What a fine innovation this is!”[172] Harmala narrated that al-Shafi`i concluded:
“Therefore, whatever innovation conforms to the Sunna is approved (mahmûd),
and whatever opposes it is abominable (madhmûm).”[173] Agreement formed in the Four Schools around his
division, as illustrated by the endorsement of some major later authorities in
each school. Among the Hanafis: Ibn `Abidin, al-Turkumani, and al-Tahanawi;[174] among the Malikis: al-Turtushi, Ibn al-Hajj, and
al-Shatibi;[175] consensus among the Shafi`is;[176] and reluctant acceptance among later Hanbalis, who
altered al-Shafi`i’s terminology to read “lexical innovation” (bid`a
lughawiyya) and “legal innovation” (bid`a shar`iyya), respectively û although
inaccurately û matching Shafi`i’s “approved” and “abominable”.[177]

Among
al-Shafi`i’s other notable positions: Al-Muzani said: “I never saw any of the
scholars make something obligatory on behalf of the Prophet as much as
al-Shafi`i in his books, and this was due to his high remembrance of the
Prophet. He said in the Old School: ‘Supplication ends with the invocation of
blessings on the Prophet, and its end is but by means of it.’” Al-Karabisi
said: “I heard al-Shafi`i say that he disliked for someone to say ‘the
Messenger’ (al-Rasûl), but that he should say ‘Allah’s Messenger’ (Rasûl
Allah) out of veneration (ta`zîm) for him.”

Among
al-Shafi`i’s other sayings:

·“The study of hadith is
better than supererogatory prayer, and the pursuit of knowledge is better than
supererogatory prayer.” Ibn `Abd al-Barr in Kitab al-`Ilm listed the
many hadiths of the Prophet on the superior merit of knowledge. However,
al-Shafi`i by this saying meant the essence and purpose of knowledge, not
knowledge for its own sake which leads to Satanic pride. The latter is widely
available while true knowledge is the knowledge that leads to godwariness (taqwa).
This is confirmed by al-Shafi`i’s saying: “Knowledge is what benefits.
Knowledge is not what one has memorized.” This is a corrective for those
content to define knowledge as “the knowledge of the proof” (ma`rifa
al-dalîl). “He gives wisdom to whomever He will, and whoever receives
wisdom receives immense good.” (2:269)

·“You [the scholars of
hadith] are the pharmacists but we [the jurists] are the physicians.” This was
explained by `Ali al-Qari in his book Mu`taqad Abi Hanifa al-Imam (p.
42): “The early scholars said: The hadith scholar without knowledge of fiqh
is like a seller of drugs who is no physician: he has them but he does not know
what to do with them; and the fiqh scholar without knowledge of hadith
is like a physician without drugs: he knows what constitutes a remedy, but does
not dispose of it.”

·“Malik was asked about kalâm
and [the Science of] Oneness (tawhîd) and he said: ‘It is inconceivable
that the Prophet should teach his Community hygiene and not teach them about
Oneness! And Oneness is exactly what the Prophet said: ‘I was ordered to fight
people until they say ‘There is no God but Allah.’[178] So, whatever makes blood and property untouchable û that is the
reality of Oneness (haqîqa al-tawhîd).’” This is a proof from the Salaf
against those who, in later times, innovated sub-divisions for tawhîd or
legislated that their own understanding of Allah’s Attributes was a
precondition for the declaration of Oneness. Al-Halimi said: “In this hadith
there is explicit proof that that declaration (lâ ilâha illallâh)
suffices to extirpate oneself from all the different kinds of disbelief in
Allah Almighty.”[179]

·“Satiation weighs down
the body, hardens the heart, does away with sagacity, brings on sleep, and
weakens one from worship.” This is similar to the definition of tasawwuf
as “hunger” (al-jû`) given by some of the early masters, who acquired
hunger as a permanent attribute and were called “hungerers” (jû`iyyûn).
A notable example is al-Qasim ibn `Uthman al-`Abdi al-Dimashqi al-Ju`i (d.
248), whom al-Dhahabi describes as “the Imam, the exemplar, the wali,
the muhaddith, the shaykh of the Sufis and the friend of Ahmad ibn
al-Hawari.”

·“I never swore by Allah
û neither truthfully nor deceptively.” This is similar
to the saying of the Sufi master Sahl ibn `Abd Allah al-Tustari narrated by
al-Dhahabi: “Among the manners of the truthful saints (al-siddîqîn) is
that they never swear by Allah, nor commit backbiting, nor does backbiting take
place around them, nor do they eat to satiation, if they promise they are true
to their word, and they never speak in jest.”

·Al-Buwayti asked:
“Should I pray behind the Rafidi?” Al-Shafi`i said: “Do not pray
behind the Rafidi, nor behind the Qadari, nor behind the Murji’.”
Al-Buwayti said: “Define them for us.” He replied: “Whoever says ‘Belief
consists only in speech’ is a Murji’, and whoever says ‘Abu Bakr and
`Umar are not Imams’ is a Rafidi, and whoever attributes destiny to
himself is a Qadari.”

Abu
Hatim narrated from Harmala that al-Shafi`i said: “The Caliphs (al-khulafâ’)
are five: Abu Bakr, `Umar, `Uthman, `Ali, and `Umar ibn `Abd al-`Aziz.” In his Diwan
he named them “leaders of their people, by whose guidance one obtains
guidance,” and declaimed of the Family of the Prophet:

The
Family of the Prophet is my intermediary to him! (wasîlatî)

Through
them I hope to be given my record with the right hand.

And:

O
Family of Allah’s Messenger! To love you is an obligation

,

Which
Allah ordained and revealed in the Qur’an.

It
is enough proof of your immense glory that

,

Whoever
invokes not blessings upon you, his prayer is invalid.

Ibn
Hajar said that the first to write a biography of al-Shafi`i was Dawud
al-Zahiri (d. 275). Al-Nawawi in Tahdhib al-Asma’ wa al-Lughat (1:44)
mentioned that the best biography of al-Shafi`i was al-Bayhaqi’s for its sound
chains of transmission. Ibn Hajar summarized it and added to it al-Shafi`i’s Musnad
in his Tawali al-Ta’sis fi Ma`ali Ibn Idris.

In
the introduction of his compendium of Shafi`i fiqh entitled al-Majmu`
al-Nawawi mentions that al-Shafi`i used a walking stick for which he was asked:
“Why do you carry a stick when you are neither old nor ailing?” He replied: “To
remember I am only a traveller in this world.”

Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hanbal

Ahmad
ibn Muhammad ibn Hanbal, Abu `Abd Allah al-Dhuhli al-Shaybani al-Marwazi
al-Baghdadi (d. 241). Al-Dhahabi says of him: “The true Shaykh of Islam and
leader of the Muslims in his time, the hadith master and proof of the Religion.
He took hadith from Hushaym, Ibrahim ibn Sa`d, Sufyan ibn `Uyayna, `Abbad ibn
`Abbad, Yahya ibn Abi Za’ida, and their layer. From him narrated al-Bukhari
[two hadiths in the Sahih], Muslim [22], Abu Dawud [254], Abu Zur`a,
Mutayyan, `Abd Allah ibn Ahmad, Abu al-Qasim al-Baghawi, and a huge array of
scholars. His father was a soldier û one of those who called to Islam û and he died
young.” Al-Dhahabi continues:

·`Abd Allah ibn Ahmad
said: “I heard Abu Zur`a [al-Razi] say: ‘Your father had memorized a million
hadiths, which I rehearsed with him according to topic.’”[180]

·Hanbal said: “I heard
Abu `Abd Allah say: ‘I memorized everything which I heard from Hushaym when he
was alive.’”

·Ibrahim al-Harbi said:
“I held Ahmad as one for whom Allah had gathered up the combined knowledge of the
first and the last.”

·`Ali ibn al-Madini
said: “Truly, Allah reinforced this Religion with Abu Bakr al-Siddiq the day of
the Great Apostasy (al-Ridda), and He reinforced it with Ahmad ibn
Hanbal the day of the Inquisition (al-Mihna).”

·Abu `Ubayd said: “The
Science at its peak is in the custody of four men, of whom Ahmad ibn Hanbal is
the most knowledgeable.”

·Ibn Ma`in said, as
related by `Abbas [al-Duri]: “They meant for me to be like Ahmad, but û by Allah! û I shall
never in my life compare to him.”

Al-Dhahabi
concludes: “Al-Bayhaqi wrote Abu `Abd Allah’s biography (sîra) in one
volume, so did Ibn al-Jawzi, and also Shaykh al-Islam [`Abd Allah
al-Harawi] al-Ansari in a brief volume. He passed on to Allah’s good pleasure
on the day of Jum`a, the twelfth of Rabi` al-Awwal in the year
241, at the age of seventy-seven. I have two of his short-chained narrations (`awâlîh),
and a licence (ijâza) for the entire Musnad.” Al-Dhahabi’s
chapter on Imam Ahmad in Siyar A`lam al-Nubala’ counts no less than 113
pages.

The
biographical notice on Imam Ahmad in the Reliance of the Traveller
reads: “Out of piety, Imam Ahmad never gave a formal legal opinion (fatwa)
while Shafi`i was in Iraq, and when he later formulated his school of
jurisprudence, he mainly drew on explicit texts from the [Qur’an], hadith, and
scholarly consensus, with relatively little expansion from analogical reasoning
(qiyâs). He was probably the most learned in the sciences of hadith of
the four great Imams of Sacred Law, and his students included many of the
foremost scholars of hadith. Abu Dawud said of him: ‘Ahmad’s gatherings were
gatherings of the afterlife: nothing of this world was mentioned. Never once
did I hear him mention this-worldly things.’ ... He never once missed praying
in the night, and used to recite the entire [Qur’an] daily. He said, ‘I saw the
Lord of Power in my sleep, and said, “O Lord, what is the best act through
which those near to You draw nearer?” and He answered, “Through [reciting] (sic)
My word, O Ahmad.” I asked, “With understanding, or without?” and He answered,
“With understanding and without.”’. . . Ahmad was imprisoned and tortured for
twenty-eight months under the Abbasid caliph al-Mu`tasim in an effort to force
him to publicly espouse the [Mu`tazila] position that the Holy [Qur’an]
was created, but the Imam bore up unflinchingly under the persecution and
refused to renounce the belief of Ahl al-Sunna that the [Qur’an] is the
uncreated word of Allah, after which Allah delivered and vindicated him. When
Ahmad died in 241/855, he was accompanied to his resting place by a funeral
procession of eight hundred thousand men and sixty thousand women, marking the
departure of the last of the four great mujtahid Imams of Islam.”

Ibn
al-Jawzi narrates from Bilal al-Khawass that the latter met al-Khidr and asked
him: “What do you say of al-Shafi`i?” He said: “One of the Pillar-Saints (Awtâd).”
“Ahmad ibn Hanbal?” “He is a Siddîq.”[181]

[1]As narrated from Abu Musa al-Ash`ari by Bukhari and
Muslim. This is a mass-narrated hadith authentically reported also from
`A’isha, Ibn Mas`ud, Ibn `Abbas, Ibn `Umar, `Abd Allah ibn Zam`a, Abu Sa`id
al-Khudri, `Ali, and Hafsa. Note: Abu Bakr did not lead the Prophet in prayer.
When the Prophet came out to pray in congregation for the last time, Abu Bakr
moved to give him his place as imam, but the Prophet told him to stay where he
was and prayed sitting to the left of Abu Bakr while the latter and the
congregation remained standing. The hadiths to that effect state: “Abu Bakr
followed the Prophet while the people followed Abu Bakr.” Further, Abu Bakr
continued to call Allahu Akbar out loud to let the people hear. Narrated
from `A’isha by Muslim and al-Nasa’i.

[2]The Prophet’s hadith “You are Allah’s Freedman From
the Fire” is narrated from `Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr by Ibn Hibban in his Sahih
(15:280 #6864), al-Tabarani, and al-Bazzar, all with sound chains, and from
`A’isha by al-Tirmidhi, al-Hakim, and al-Tabarani, all with weak chains as
indicated by Shu`ayb al-Arna’ut.

[3]Narrated from Anas by Ibn Abi Hatim in his Tafsir,
from `Ali and `A’isha by Abu Nu`aym in Ma`rifa al-Sahaba, and from
`A’isha by al-Hakim in al-Mustadrak (3:62, 3:76). The latter said its
chain is sound and Dhahabi concurred. Ibn Sa`d narrated something similar in
his Tabaqat (1:144), and al-Suyuti in al-Durr al-Manthur (4:155).

[4]Narrated from `Aisha, `Umar, and `Ali, by Muslim,
al-Tirmidhi and Abu Dawud.

[5]Narrated from `Umar (mawq√f) with a
sound chain by Ibn al-Mubarak in al-Zuhd, al-Bayhaqi in Shu`ab
al-Iman, and al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi in Nawadir al-Usul as stated by
al-`Iraqi in al-Mughni, al-Sakhawi in al-Maqasid, and al-`Ajluni
in Kashf al-Khafa’. Al-Sakhawi added: “It is narrated from Ibn `Umar
from the Prophet (marf√`) with a
weak chain by Ibn `Adi, however, it is strengthened by other chains and is
corroborated.” Al-Zarkashi in al-Tadhkira said: “Its meaning was stated
in the Sunan.” He and al-Sakhawi are referring to the sound (sahεh)
narration of Abu Bakrah and Safina.

[6]Narrated from Abu Bakrah by Ahmad with three chains,
Abu Dawud, and al-Tirmidhi who said: hasan sahεh, and
from Safina by Abu Dawud with a fair chain and al-Bazzar with a fair chain as
indicated by al-Haythami in Majma` al-Zawa’id. Al-Tirmidhi’s narration
omits the last statement of the Prophet. Al-Hakim narrated it with a chain
similar to al-Tirmidhi’s and graded it sahεh, and
al-Dhahabi concurred.

[18]Narrated from `A’isha by al-Tirmidhi who said it is a
fair (hasan) hadith. This is also the grading given by al-Mubarakfuri in
Tuhfa al-Ahwadhi (10:109), who cites Ibn Kathir’s grading of sahεh. Ibn
al-Jawzi’s claim that it is forged was rejected by the scholars except for
al-Dhahabi.

[19]Narrated from Hudhayfa and Ibn Mas`ud by Ahmad with
several good chains, al-Tirmidhi, and Ibn Majah. Al-Tirmidhi said it is a fair (hasan)
narration.

[20]Narrated from `Ali by Ahmad in his Musnad with
a fair chain because of al-Hasan ibn Zayd ibn Hasan. Ahmad Shakir in his
edition (1:424 #602) said he is trustworthy (thiqa), while Ibn Hajar in al-Taqrib
(p. 161 #1242) said of him: “Credible, but errs” (sad√q yahim).
Also narrated from Anas by al-Tirmidhi with a fair chain, and û with weaker chains û from several other Companions such as Abu Juhayfa,
Ibn `Abbas, Abu Sa`id al-Khudri, and Jabir ibn `Abd Allah by Ibn Majah, al-Tirmidhi,
al-Hakim in his Tarikh, Abu Ya`la, al-Tabarani, al-Bazzar, and others.
Al-Munawi in his discussion of this narration in Fayd al-Qadir mentioned
that al-`Iraqi had declared it hasan sahεh.
Al-Suyuti also indicated it is sahεh in al-Jami`
al-Saghir. See also al-Tahawi, Mushkil al-Athar (2:391).

[21]Narrated from Abu al-Darda’ by al-Tabarani and Ibn
`Asakir with a fair chain as stated in Kanz al-`Ummal. The complete
hadith states that the Prophet said to Abu al-Darda’: “Do not walk in front of
your better. Verily, Abu Bakr is the best of those upon whom the sun rose or
set.”

[22]Narrated from `Umar by al-Tirmidhi and Ahmad with
sound chains as stated by Ibn Hajar in Fath al-Bari, book of Knowledge (`ilm),
chapter entitled “Nightly Conversation Concerning Knowledge.”

[29]Narrated from Ibn `Umar, Thawban, Ibn `Abbas,
`A’isha, `Ali, and al-Zubayr ibn al-`Awamm by Ibn Majah, al-Hakim (3:83),
al-Bayhaqi in his Sunan (6:370), al-Tabarani in al-Kabir, and Ibn
al-Najjar. Al-Dhahabi in the Siyar (1/2:510) said its chains are good,
and al-Haythami in Majma` al-Zawa’id (#14404-14406, 2180) indicated
likewise for al-Tabarani’s chain, while al-Busiri in Zawa’id Ibn Majah
stated the latter’s narration was weak. The hadith itself is weak by the
criterion of Bukhari, al-Haythami, al-Busiri, Abu Hatim al-Razi, and al-Nasa’i,
while it is authentic according to Ibn Ma`in, Ibn Hibban, al-Dhahabi. Another
version states: “O Allah! Strengthen Islam with the dearest of the two to you:
`Umar ibn al-Khattab or Abu Jahl [`Umar ibn Hisham].” Narrated from Ibn `Umar
by Ahmad and al-Tirmidhi who said it is hasan sahεh gharεb, and by
him from Ibn `Abbas with a weaker chain. Suyuti in al-Durar al-Muntathira
reported from Ibn `Asakir that the discrepancy is explained by the fact that
the Prophet first called for either of the two, then it was made clear to him
that Abu Jahl’s conversion was precluded and he concentrated his tawajjuh
on `Umar.

[30]Narrated from Abu Sa`id al-Khudri by al-Tirmidhi who
said it is hasan, and from Ibn `Abbas by al-Hakim, with a chain
al-Dhahabi also graded hasan in the Siyar (1/2:511).

[35]Narrated from `Uqba ibn `Amir by Ahmad and
al-Tirmidhi who graded it hasan, and by al-Hakim (3:85) who graded it sahεh as
confirmed by al-Dhahabi. Also narrated from `Isma ibn Malik by al-Tabarani with
a weak chain in al-Kabir (17:298), as stated by al-Haythami in Majma`
al-Zawa’id (9:68) and al-Munawi in Fayd al-Qadir.

[39]Narrated from Anas by Bukhari and Ahmad. Ibn Hibban
in his Sahih (15:319 #6896) and al-Tahawi in Mushkil al-Athar
(4:825) narrate a slightly different version, as do Bukhari and Ahmad. Also
narrated from Ibn `Umar by Muslim and Abu Dawud al-Tayalisi in his Musnad
but with the consultation over the prisoners of the battle of Badr as the third
item. See also Ibn `Abd al-Barr’s al-Isti`ab fi Ma`rifa al-Ashab
(2:462), Nawawi’s Tahdhib al-Asma’ (2:8), and Suyuti’s Tarikh
al-Khulafa’.

[40]Narrated from Burayda by Ahmad with a strong chain,
al-Tirmidhi as part of a longer hadith with the wording “the devil certainly
fears `Umar,” and Ibn Hibban in his Sahih. Al-Tirmidhi said it is hasan
sahεh gharεb and
al-Suyuti indicated that it is sahεh in al-Jami`
al-Saghir.

[42]As stated by al-Zuhri in Ibn Majah’s Sunan and
Sa`id ibn al-Musayyib in Ahmad’s Musnad, and narrated with sound chains
from Bilal by Ibn Majah and from `Abd Allah ibn Zayd by Ahmad. The report that
mentions `Umar is in Malik’s Muwatta’, book of the Call to prayer,
without chain.

[43]As stated by al-Zuhri in Ibn Majah’s Sunan and
Sa`id ibn al-Musayyib in Ahmad’s Musnad, and narrated with sound chains
from Bilal by Ibn Majah and from `Abd Allah ibn Zayd by Ahmad. The report that
mentions `Umar is in Malik’s Muwatta’ without chain.

[44]Abu Nu`aym, Hilya (1:88 #133) through Abu Bakr
ibn Abi Shayba; Ibn al-Jawzi, Manaqib `Umar (p. 168); al-Dhahabi in the Siyar.
Ibn Taymiyya claimed in his Fatawa and his epistle entitled al-Sufiyya
wa al-Fuqara’ that this phenomenon never took place among the Companions
and he decried the propensity to faint at the hearing of the recitation of
Qur’an reported from certain Tabi`in of Basra, and one of them was even
reported to die on the spot. However, neither Ibn al-Jawzi nor al-Dhahabi
questioned the authenticity of `Umar’s report.

[53]Narrated from al-Miswar ibn Makhrama by Malik in his Muwatta’,
Ibn Sa`d in his Tabaqat (3:350-351), and Ibn al-Jawzi in Manaqib
`Umar (p. 222).

[54]Narrated by al-Bayhaqi in Dala’il al-Nubuwwa
(7:47) and Ibn Abi Shayba in al-Musannaf with a sound (sahεh) chain
as stated by Ibn Kathir in al-Bidaya wa al-Nihaya (7:105) and by Ibn
Hajar in Fath al-Bari, Book of Istisqa’, Chapter 3 (2:629-630).
Al-Dhahabi cites it in the Siyar (1/2:524). Ibn Hajaridentifies Malik as `Umar’s treasurer and says that the man who visited
and saw the Prophet in his dream is identified as the Companion Bilal ibn
al-Harith. Ibn Hajar counts this hadith among the reasons for Bukhari’s naming
of the chapter “The people’s request to their leader for rain if they suffer
drought” in the Sahih, although Bukhari does not narrate it there. Ibn
Hajar also mentions it in al-Isaba (6:164 #8350). In his annotations on Fath
al-Bari, the Wahhabi scholar Bin Baz condemns the act of the Companion who
came to the grave, calling it “aberrant” (munkar) and “a means to
associating partners to Allah” (wasεla ila al-shirk), while Albani denies the authenticity of the hadith in his booklet al-Tawassul
on the claim that Malik al-Dar is “unknown” (majh√l) on the
sole basis of his brief mention by Ibn Abi Hatim al-Razi in al-Jarh wa
al-Ta`dil (8:213 #14252). However, this is contradicted by the notices of
three authorities which Albani did not cite: Ibn Sa`d, al-Khalili, and Ibn
Hajar; furthermore, Ibn Abi Khaythama and al-Bukhari narrated from him. “Malik
al-Dar [was] `Umar ibn al-Khattab’s freedman. He narrated from Abu Bakr and
`Umar. He was known.” Ibn Sa`d, Tabaqat (5:12). “Malik al-Dar is agreed upon and the Successors have
approved highly of him.”Abu Ya`la
al-Khalil ibn `Abd Allah al-Khalili al-Qazwini, Kitab al-Irshad as
quoted in `Abd Allah al-Ghumari, Irgham al-Mubtadi` (p. 9). “Malik ibn
`Iyad [was] `Umar’s freedman. He is the one named Malik al-Dar. He has seen the
Prophet and has heard narrations from Abu Bakr al-Siddiq. He has narrated from
Abu Bakr and `Umar, Mu`adh, and Abu `Ubayda. From him narrated Abu Salih
al-Saman and his (Malik’s) two sons `Awn and `Abd Allah. Al-Bukhari narrated
from him in al-Tarikh al-Kabir (7:304 #10633). . . as well as Ibn Abi
Khaythama. . .” Ibn Hajar, al-Isaba (6:164 #8350).

[61]Part of a longer hadith narrated with sound chains
from Anas by al-Tirmidhi who graded it hasan sahεh, Ibn
Majah, and Ahmad.

[62]Narrated from Abu Dharr by al-Tabarani in al-Awsat
with a sound chain as stated by al- Haythami in Majma` al-Zawa’id in the
chapter entitled `Alamat
al-Nubuwwa (“The Marks of Prophethood”): “The Prophet took pebbles and they
glorified Allah in his hand so that a hum was heard coming from them like the
buzzing of bees. He put them down and they became silent. Then Abu Bakr picked
them up, etc.”

[85]Sahl ibn Sa`d said that `Ali liked to be called by
that patronym. Its story is related in Bukhari and Muslim.

[86]In the hadith which partly reads: “O Allah who lives
and never dies, who quickens and puts to death! Forgive the sins of my mother
Fatima bint Asad, make wide the place wherein she enters through the
intercession of me, Your Prophet, and the Prophets who came before me. For You
are the most merciful of those capable of having mercy.” Al-Tabarani relates it
in al-Kabir and al-Awsat. Ibn Hibban and al-Hakim declare it
sound. Ibn Abi Shayba on the authority of Jabir relates a similar narrative.
Similar also is what Ibn `Abd al-Barr on the authority of Ibn `Abbas and Abu
Nu`aym in his Hilya on the authority of Anas Ibn Malik relate, as
al-Suyuti mentioned in the Jami` al-Kabir. Al-Haythami said in Majma`
al-Zawa’id: “Tabarani’s chain contains Rawh ibn Salah who has some weakness
but Ibn Hibban and al-Hakim declared him trustworthy. The rest of its
sub-narrators are the men of sound hadith.” Imam al-Kawthari says about this
hadith in his Maqalat (p. 410): “It provides textual evidence whereby
there is no difference between the living and the dead in the context of using
a means (tawassul), and this is explicit tawassul through the
Prophets, while the hadith of Abu Sa`id al-Khudri ‘O Allah, I ask You by the
right of those who ask You,’ constitutes tawassul through the generality
of Muslims, both the living and the dead.”

[104]Narrated by Ahmad and al-Hakim (3:121) with a sound
chain as stated by the latter, al-Haythami, and al-Suyuti.

[105]Cited by al-Bukhari in al-Du`afa’ al-Saghir
(p. 11-12), where he relates it as authentic from both `Umar and `Ali. It is
also related that on the day of the battle of the Camel `Ali said: “In truth,
Allah’s Messenger did not give us a covenant concerning leadership [after him],
but we did see something on our own [concerning his preference]. Then Abu Bakr
was made to follow him, and he kept to a righteous path, then `Umar, and he
kept to a righteous path, then the Religion was stabbed in the throat [with the
killing of `Uthman].” Narrated from Sa`id ibn `Amr with a weak chain by Ahmad,
al-Lalika’i, and others, but it is strengthened by the following narration in
Ahmad.

[106]Narrated from `Abd Khayr by Ahmad with two sound
chains, as stated by Ahmad Shakir, in his Musnad (2:54-55 #1055, 2:56
#1059).

[107]This is a mass-narrated (mutawΓtir)
saying from `Ali according to al-Dhahabi, spoken from the pulpit in Kufa and
narrated from Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya by Bukhari in his Sahih and Abu
Dawud with a sound chain; Wahb al-Suwa’i, `Alqama ibn Qays, Shurayh, and `Abd
Khayr by Ahmad in his Musnad, each through several chains; from `Abd
Allah ibn Salama by Ibn Majah with a fair chain; and from Shurayh by Ibn
Shadhan, al-Khatib, Ibn Abi Shayba, al-Lalika’i, Ibn Mandah, Ibn `Asakir, and
others. See also Kashf al-Khafa’ under the hadith: “I am the city of
knowledge and `Ali is its gate.”

[109]Narrated from Yazid ibn Sharik by Muslim. Bukhari
narrates something similar from Abu Juhayfa. The rest of the hadith states:
“Except for this notebook which contains information about the ages of camels
[in the payment of zakΓt] and
compensations.” `Ali indicated a notebook (sahεfa) which
contained hadiths and fiqh notes. Al-Bukhari deduced from this hadith,
among others, that some of the Companions kept a written record of some of the
Prophet’s hadiths and of their explanations.

[110]Narrated from `Uthman ibn Abi `Uthman by Ibn `Asakir
in Tarikh Dimashq (42:476) and al-Dhahabi in the Siyar (1/2:631).

[111]Narrated from Ibn `Abbas by Ibn Abi Shayba in his Musannaf
and al-Bazzar in his Musnad with a sound chain as stated by al-Haythami.
See Albani’s Silsila Sahiha (#474).

[112]Narrated from Abu Sa`id al-Khudri by Imam Ahmad with
a sound chain as stated by al-Haythami in Majma` al-Zawa’id (9:133), Ibn
Hibban with a sound chain, as stated by Shu`ayb al-Arna’ut, in his Sahih
(15:385 #6937), al-Hakim (3:122) who declared it sahεh, while
al-Dhahabi said in Talkhis al-`Ilal al-Mutanahiya (fo 18):
“This hadith has a good chain.” Also narrated by al-Baghawi in Sharh
al-Sunna (10:233), Abu Ya`la in his Musnad (#1086), Sa`id ibn Mansur
in his Sunan, Ibn Abi Shayba in his Musannaf (12:64), Abu Nu`aym
in al-Hilya, and al-Bayhaqi in Dala’il al-Nubuwwa (6:435) and Shu`ab
al-Iman.

[114]Narrated by Ibn Sa`d in his Tabaqat (3:39) and
Ibn Qutayba in al-Akhbar al-Tiwal (p. 215).

[115]As shown by the following hadith: Abu Ishaq narrated
that `Abd Khayr said that he heard `Ali say on the pulpit: “The best of this
Community after its Prophet are Abu Bakr and `Umar, and I could name the third
if I wished.” A man said to Abu Ishaq: “They claim that you are saying: ‘best
in evil’!” Abu Ishaq replied: “Are you a Hur√ri?”
Narrated by Ahmad with a sound chain, as stated by Ahmad Shakir, in his Musnad
(2:56 #1060).

[125]As cited by al-`Ayni in `Umda al-Qari, Book of
`Ilm, in his commentary on the hadith: “He for whom Allah desires great
good, He grants him the understanding of Religion.” See also Ibn al-Jawzi, Manaqib
al-Hasan al-Basri (p. 16).

[140]Narrated from Abu Hurayra by Ahmad in his Musnad,
al-Tirmidhi who said it is hasan sahεh,
al-Hakim (1:91) who said it is sahεh by
Muslim’s criterion, al-Bayhaqi in al-Sunan al-Kubra (1:386), and
al-Nasa’i without the words “very soon” in his al-Sunan al-Kubra (2:489
#4291). Al-Dhahabi said in the Siyar (7:388): “This is a hadith whose
chain is neat, and content strange.”

[145]Ibn al-Jawzi, Sifa al-Safwa (1/2:120), chapter
titled “Layer 6 of the People of Madina.” The account is also in Abu Nu`aym’s Hilya
and Dhahabi’s Siyar.

[146]Al-Mansur ruled 136-158. He is the one that slew the
descendents of the Prophet Muhammad and Ibrahim the sons of `Abd Allah ibn
Hasan ibn al-Hasan ibn `Ali ibn Abi Talib in the year 145 together with a large
number of the People of the Prophet’s House. Al-Suyuti says he was the first to
introduce dissension between the House of `Abbas and the House of `Ali who had
been as one previously. He also harmed or imprisoned a number of major scholars
such as `Abd al-Hamid ibn Ja`far, Ibn `Ajlan, and Abu Hanifa whom he whipped
for refusing a judgeship. The year he jailed Sufyan al-Thawri and `Abbad ibn
Kathir he died. Al-Suyuti, Tarikh al-Khulafa’ (p. 279-280).

[147]Narrated mawq√f from Ibn
`Abbas by Ibn Abi Shayba in his Musannaf (1:238b, 5:48), `Abd al-Razzaq
in his (6:407), al-Bayhaqi’s Sunan (7:357), al-Bukhari in his Sahih
without chain, and others.

[148]Al-Mansur was the great-grandson of `Abd Allah ibn
`Abbas, the Prophet’s cousin.

[161]Narrated from Abu Hurayra by al-Khatib in al-Tarikh;
from Ibn Mas`ud by Abu Dawud al-Tayalisi in his Musnad; from Ibn `Abbas
by al-Bayhaqi in al-Madkhal and al-Quda`i; and from `Ali by al-Hakim and
al-Abiri, and from all four Companions by Ibn Hajar in Tawali al-Ta’sis,
all with weak chains which, al-Bayhaqi and Ibn Hajar said, if collated, make
the hadith strong. The second sentence is narrated alone from Ibn `Abbas by
Tirmidhi who said it is hasan sahεh gharεb, and by
Ahmad with a good chain according to Ibn Hajar in Tawali al-Ta’sis (p.
44). Shaykh Ahmad Shakir said it is sahεh in his
edition of the Musnad (2:553 #2170).

[162]Narrated from Abu Hurayra by Abu Dawud in his Sunan,
al-Hakim in al-Mustadrak, and others, with a strong chain as stated by
Ibn Hajar in Tawali al-Ta’sis (p. 49).

[169]Bayhaqi continues: “The hadith master Abu `Abd Allah
[al-Hakim] and the hadith master al-Qadi Abu Bakr ibn al-`Arabi have related to
us from Mujahid that he said regarding this verse: “It means the direction of
prayer to Allah (qibla), therefore wheresoever you are, East and West,
do not turn your faces except towards it.”

[170]Al-Dhahabi said: “This breath of fresh air is
mass-narrated from the Imam.”

[171]Al-Shafi`i named him the most knowledgeable person in
his school. He died in 231 in jail, bound in chains in Iraq for refusing to say
that the Qur’an was created. May Allah have mercy on him and on all the
scholars of Ahl al-Sunna. Al-Dhahabi, Siyar (10:67-69
#1978).

[173]Narrated by Abu Nu`aym with his chain through Abu
Bakr al-Ajurri in Hilya al-Awliya’ (9:121 #13315) and by al-Bayhaqi in
his Madkhal and Manaqib al-Shafi`i (1:469) with a sound chain, as
stated by Ibn Taymiyya in his Dar’ Ta`arud al-`Aql wa al-Naql (p. 171).

[177]Ibn Rajab, al-Jami` fi al-`Ulum wa al-Hikam
(2:50-53), and Ibn Taymiyya’s section on bid`a in his Iqtida'
al-Sirat al-Mustaqim Mukhalafa Ashab al-Jahim. This is also the position of
Ibn Kathir: see his commentary of the verse: “The Originator of the heavens
and the earth!” (2:117) in his Tafsir. He followed in this his
teacher Ibn Taymiyya.

[180]By the phrase “a million hadiths” are meant the
chains of transmission, as the hadith texts themselves, without repetition, do
not exceed ten thousand sound hadiths according to the hadith masters.